ALMA  MARTIN 
E  STAB  ROOK 


THE  RULE  OF  THREE 


. 


Forgive  me  " 


Page  157 


THE  RULE  OF 
THREE 

A    STORY    OF    PIKE'S    PEAK 

BY 
ALMA  MARTIN  ESTABROOK 

ILLUSTRATED  BY 
GEORGE  BHEHU 


"  Multiplication  is  vexation, 

Division  is  as  bad; 

The  Rule  of  Three  perplexes  me  —  " 


Division  is  as  bad; 


BOSTOM 
SMALL,  MAYNARD,  AND  COMPANY 


COPTRIGHT, 
BY  SMALL,  MAYSARD  &  COMPANY 
(INCORPORATED) 


Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall 


THE    UNIVERSITY    PRESS,   CAMBRIDGE,   U.S.A. 


TO 

MY    SISTER 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 
"  Forgive  me  " Frontispiece 

"  In  the  name  of  common  sense  why  did  you  come  up 

here  ?"  she  demanded  pantingly 10 

Davie  Bessire  swayed  thoughtfully  on  the  arm  of  the 

chair 36 

Upon  him  sat  a  black-haired  girl,  stiff  with  exasperation     ig4 

Had  the  dryads  worn  pale  blue,  he  wondered,  and  what 
need  had  they  of  wings  when  women  moved  like 
this  without  them aao 

"  He  '11  have  to  make  the  best  of  it " a  58 


2135398   ! 


CHAPTER   ONE 


"And  after  all,  what  is  a  lie?     'Tis  but 
The  truth  in  masquerade." 


THE  RULE  OF  THREE 


CHAPTER   ONE 

1  HE  bungalow  pouched  pigeon-wise  on 
the  east  side  of  Pike's  Peak.  It  was 
weather-brown,  with  a  worn  red  roof,  and 
it  flew  its  faded  stars  and  stripes  like  the 
veteran  it  was,  there  among  the  sun-kissed 
crests.  The  porch  was  a  double-decker, 
trailing  away  in  a  sort  of  incline  at  the 
back  of  the  house,  where  it  led  directly 
out  among  the  rocks  and  scrub  oaks  and 
pines  which  made  the  gray-green  back- 
ground. From  the  number  of  hammocks 
and  chairs  upon  it  one  would  have  im- 
agined the  family  large,  or  augmented  by 
guests. 

Yet  only  two  persons  were  visible,  sit- 
ting   side    by  side  on  the  upper  gallery, 
their  feet  hooked  over  the  pine-slab  railing. 
[3] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


Of  those  feet  two  were  large  and  flat — 
the  kind  which  not  infrequently  belong  to 
the  orator;  the  others  were  quite  charac- 
terless, in  worn  tennis  shoes.  Two  old 
caps  were  drawn  over  two  faces,  and 
two  pipes  —  one  a  sweetbriar,  the  other 
a  meerschaum  —  placidly  puffed,  puffed, 
puffed. 

It  was  a  slumberous,  yawn-compelling 
scene,  reeking  with  masculine  contentment. 
Even  the  militant  mountain-jays,  shaking 
their  sleek  black  plumes  in  the  wild  hop 
vine  which  tangled  among  the  oaks,  were 
gossiping  with  the  chipmunks  in  lowered 
chirrups,  so  contagious  is  peace. 

The  flag  rippled  against  the  royal  blue 
of  the  sky,  and  the  white  pantaloons  of 
the  Chinese  cook,  now  whisking  back  and 
forth  before  the  kitchen  door  made  the 
only  movement,  while  of  sounds  there 
were  none  except  the  soft  patter  of  the 
Celestial's  heels  and  the  chatter  of  the 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


jays.  A  vaporous  pink  smoke  arose  from 
the  kitchen  chimney,  mingling  with  de- 
licious culinary  whiff's  which  ascended  by 
way  of  the  open  windows. 

"Fish  a  la  papilotte?"  sniffed  one  of 
the  men  expectantly,  stirring  in  his  chair. 
He  was  a  large,  white,  doughy  person, 
who  looked  as  if  he  would  rub  off 
shockingly  on  his  black  clothes.  His 
heavy  hair  tossed  back  from  his  big  bulging 
forehead  gave  him  a  nobly  sincere  look. 
Somewhere  in  his  face,  perhaps  in  the 
fullness  of  the  lips,  or  in  the  shape  and 
movement  of  the  tongue,  or  in  the  eyes 
themselves,  you  read  the  gourmet. 

"  Plain  flanked,"  replied  the  other  man, 
smiling  a  little  at  his  guest's  unfailing  gas- 
tronomic exuberance.  "  Yim  does  them 
very  well  that  way,  however." 

' '  The  fellow 's  a  good  enough  cook  for 
the  mountains.  I  suppose  it 's  difficult  to 
get  a  really  first  class  one  here,  isn't  it? 
[5] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


.    .    .      How  long  have  you  been  coming 
up,  Langstaff?" 

"A  dozen  years,  off  and  on.  It  suits 
me  exactly.  Hope  it  won't  bore  you  too 
much." 

Benjamin  Gockran  removed  his  pipe, 
knocked  the  dodder  from  it,  and  poked  the 
bowl  with  a  huge  forefinger.  He  yawned 
expansively. 

"Dear  me,  no,"  said  he.  "It  does  a 
man  good  to  revert  to  this  sort  of  thing 
once  in  awhile.  It  means  as  much  to  his 
soul  as  a  diet  of  bread  and  milk  means  to 
a  tired  stomach,  eh?" 

Gavin  Langstaff  did  not  look  particu- 
larly pleased;  he  loved  his  mountains, 
and  was  unaccustomed  to  have  them  taken 
as  so  much  spiritual  Vichy. 

"See  your  neighbors  often,  do  you?" 
queried  Gockran. 

' '  As  often  as  I  want  to  see  'em.    Have  n't 
any  except   the   Brindleys  down  there  at 
[6] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


the  foot  of  this  last  stiff  climb,  and  a 
family  or  two  farther  up.  Don't  come  here 
to  cultivate  people,  you  know." 

"There's  the  inn  at  Miiinehaha  Falls. 
Noticed  a  porch  full  of  girls  there  as  I 
came  past." 

Langstaff  nodded  carelessly.  "Up  for 
the  day,  perhaps.  I  don't  think  they  can 
accommodate  many  at  a  time.  Haven't 
been  there  this  summer.  This  suits  me  all 
right;"  and  he  laughed  comfortably. 

"  I  see,"  said  Gockran  ;  "  books,  a  pipe, 
friends  who  know  when  to  go,  and  — 
by  George,  is  the  cog  stopping?" 

He  swung  forward  in  his  chair,  bring- 
ing his  feet  to  the  floor  with  a  thump. 
He  was  a  gregarious  creature  and  the 
peaks  did  not  bear  him  the  intimate  com- 
pany which  they  seemed  to  bear  his  friend. 
He  welcomed  the  idea  of  visitors. 

The  Skyland  was  set  back  among  the 
rocks  and  trees  a  hundred  yards  or  so  from 
[7] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


the  cog  road  which  crawls  up  the  mountain 
side  from  Manitou.  It  had  its  platform 
where  the  little  tumble-bug  engine  when 
hailed  would  more  or  less  cheerfully  halt 
with  its  load.  But  it  was  unused  to  hav- 
ing anyone  knock  upon  its  battened  doors 
except  those  who  were  bidden.  It  was 
too  far  from  the  beaten  paths  below  for 
the  casual  visitor,  and  its  owner  frowned 
with  disapproval  as  the  engine  squatted  at 
his  platform.  Up  there  among  the  clouds 
you  are  apt  to  hug  your  isolation  and  to 
leave  your  porch  chairs  empty. 

"Visitors,"  said  Cockran,  with  pleasant 
anticipation. 

A  trim  conductor,  who  looked  as  if  he 
had  been  made  to  fit  the  trim  train,  got 
briskly  down  and  assisted  a  passenger  to 
alight.  She  appeared  to  roll  up  the  trail 
toward  the  bungalow  like  a  little  dark  blue 
ball  of  zephyr  with  the  ends  flying.  Dark 
blue  skirts  swathed  her,  dark  blue  veils 

[8] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


wound  her  about,  and  her  dark  blue  hands 
carried  each  a  diminutive  bag, — the  only 
thing  about  her  not  dark  blue. 

That  she  was  no  casual  guest,  but  had 
come  with  cheerful  premeditation,  was 
shown  in  the  gay  little  wave  of  her  hand 
toward  the  upper  porch,  where,  for  the 
instant,  they  stood  gazing  blankly  down 
upon  her. 

A  gasp  of  recognition  tore  its  way  from 
Gavin  LangstafFs  throat : 

"  Aunt  Mariannal  By  the  gods,  Aunt 
Marianna  111" 

A  very  palsy  of  perturbation  seemed  to 
seize  him.  Then  he  shook  it  off,  and 
darting  toward  the  head  of  the  stairs, 
darted  back  again  to  say  excitedly : 

' '  Take  yourself  out  of  the  way  for 
a  while,  can't  you,  Ben?  I'll  explain 
later,  but  there's  a  lot  at — er  —  at  stake. 
Everything,  in  fact.  See?  Oh,  hang  it 
all,  you  don't  see !  But  clear  out,  like 

[9] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


a  good  fellow,  until  I  can  make  you  un- 
derstand." 

Then  he  bolted  down  the  stairs  which 
led  from  the  upper  stratum  of  the  double 
porch  to  the  lower,  and  still  on  down  the 
trail,  catching  up  the  small  lady  bodily 
and  depositing  her  on  his  steps. 

Released  from  his  well  meaning  but 
somewhat  destructive  grasp,  Miss  Marianna 
Langstaff  began  to  throw  back  the  folds 
that  wrapped  her,  unveiling  at  last  her 
dim  little  eyes,  her  two  chins,  and  her  one 
pertly  inquiring  nose. 

' '  In  the  name  of  common  sense  why 
did  you  come  up  here?"  she  demanded 
pantingly. 

"Why  did  you  come?"  he  anxiously 
inquired,  noticing  at  once  her  disturbed 
breathing. 

' '  I  wanted  to  see  you  and  Bella.  Gavin, 
you  're  married,  of  course  ?  If  I  've 
come  home  to  find —  Gracious,  what 

[10] 


8tf 


In  the  name  of  common  sense  why  did  you  come  up  here  ?  " 
she  demanded  pantingly 

Page  10 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


a  pain  I"  And  she  blinked  and  gasped 
alarmingly. 

"  It 's  the  elevation.  You  ought  never  to 
have  risked  it,  Auntie.  Let  me  get  you 
straight  to  bed.  Gome,  please." 

' '  Bed !  Do  you  imagine  I  \e  journeyed 
all  this  way  to  go  to  bed  ?  That  I  have  n't ! 
I  stopped  en  route  to  surprise  you  and 
Bella.  Where  is  she  ?  "  But  without  wait- 
ing for  a  reply  she  continued,  pantingly, 
as  if  she  and  not  the  cog  had  puffed  all 
the  way  up  the  hill :  ' '  When  we  landed 
in  San  Francisco  I  said  to  myself  that  it 
was  high  time  I  found  out  just  how  things 
were  going  with  my  boy.  Do  you  realize 
that  it's  been  two  years  since  I  went  to 
Japan  ?  And  I  've  had  scarcely  a  word 
from  you  in  that  time !  If  it  were  n't  that 
the  Langstaffs  are  all  such  abominably 
poor  correspondents  and  that  you  come  by 
it  honestly,  I'd  scold  you  soundly  for 
your  neglect.  Did  you  write  me  of  the 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


wedding?  The  letter  must  have  been 
lost  in  following  me  about.  Dear  me, 
does  the  altitude  always  treat  one  like 
this?" 

A  grayish  blueness  was  about  her  lips 
and  a  pallor  over  her  brow,  while  her 
plump  little  bosom  worked  chuggingly,  and 
her  voice  was  like  a  breeze  which  has  out- 
blown  itself. 

In  very  real  alarm  Langstaff  got  her  up- 
stairs and  into  a  room  which  plainly  did 
not  await  a  lady's  occupancy;  a  very  man- 
nish, untidy  place  it  was,  with  pipes  lying 
about  and  vari-colored  neckties  festooning 
picture  frames  and  chiffonier. 

"  I  'm  afraid  we  're  a  bit  disorderly  in 
here,"  said  he,  ' '  but  you  won't  mind,  will 
you  ?  Yim  will  tidy  us  up  as  soon  as 
possible." 

"It  doesn't  look  at  all  as  I  fancied 
Bella's  guest  room  would  look,"  com- 
mented she  in  some  surprise,  "  but  I  sup- 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


pose  you  keep  house  less  painstakingly  in 
the  mountains  than  elsewhere." 

"Oh,  yes.  What's  the  good  of  slaving 
up  here?"  he  hastened.  "  Besides,  Yim  's 
getting  old,  you  know." 

"Yim!" 

"Kam  Yim.  You  can't  have  forgotten 
him?" 

"Certainly  I  haven't  forgotten  him. 
Neither  have  I  forgotten  what  he  used  to 
say  about  leaving  you  the  minute  you 
married." 

He  was  helping  her  out  of  her  traveling 
coat  and  his  voice  sounded  natural  enough, 
but  it  was  well  she  could  not  see  his  face. 

"  He  got  over  that  prejudice  all  right." 

"  Ah  !    He 's  fond  of  Bella,  then  ?  " 

' '  Why  —  er  —  everybody  is  fond  of 
Bella,  you  know,"  he  stammered. 

She  dropped  without  warning  to  the 
edge  of  the  bed,  looking  up  blindly  at 
him. 

[it] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


' '  That 's  a  nasty  pain  that 's  tearing  at 
my  heart,  Gavin,"  she  murmured  in 
fright. 

He  grabbed  a  water  pitcher  and  came 
toward  her. 

"  Don't  come  near  me  with  that.  This 
dress  spots !  Do  you  want  to  ruin  it  ? 
I'm  not  fainting,  but  oh,  oh,  how  that  stabs ! 
Call  Bella.  I  —  I  will  go  to  bed,  I  think." 

He  whirled  toward  the  door,  stopped, 
and  spun  about  helplessly.  Then  he  dashed 
back  into  the  room  and  began  to  turn  down 
the  covers  of  the  bed.  He  was  desperately 
anxious  and  furiously  embarrassed. 

"Why  don't  you  call  Bella?  A  man 
never  knows  what  to  do  for  you,"  she 
declared  fretfully. 

He  faced  her. 

"  The  truth  is — is  —  that  —  well,  you 
see,  the  truth  is  —  "  he  gulped. 

' '  You  've  quarreled !  I  understand  per- 
fectly. Oh,  Gavin  !  "  she  wailed. 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"No,  we  haven't  quarreled, — that's 
the  one  thing  we  have  n't  done.  But  you 
see,  Bella  isn't — " 

"  Isn't  at  home,"  she  half  laughed  in  re- 
lief. ' '  Don't  apologize  for  that.  I  have  n't 
forgotten  how  she  loved  to  go  gadding 
about,  but  she  didn't  expect  me  and  I 
ought  n't  to  blame  her —  Phew  !  This 
hurts."  And  poor  Miss  Marianna  went 
tumbling  over  among  the  pillows. 

"  There's  a  doctor  staying  at  the  inn 
down  the  mountain.  I'll  send  for  him. 
Yim  can  get  him  here  in  fifteen  minutes. 
And  maybe  Ben  will  know  what  to  do  till 
becomes.  Don't  get  scared.  We'll  have 
you  all  right  in  no  time." 

"I  don't  want  Ben  —  whoever  he  may 
be.  Tell  him  to  —  to  go  —  away.  I'm 
easier —  Send  for  the  doctor,  if  you  like, 
but  I'll — be  all  right  without  him.  I 
only  want  Bella.  Why  in  the  world  don't 
you  send  for  her  ?  " 

f.5] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"Yes,  yes.  I'll  send,"  he  muttered, 
speaking  to  Cockran  outside  the  door,  and 
coming  quickly  back  to  her  side. 

' '  Is  n't  marriage  everything  I  used  to 
say  it  would  be  ?  "  she  challenged. 

He  got  up  abruptly  and  lowered  the 
blinds  at  the  western  windows.  His  facial 
expression  was  somewhat  that  of  one  in 
the  stocks.  His  laugh  was  limp  and  sickish. 

' '  How  do  you  know  anything  about  it  ?  " 
he  teased  feebly. 

' '  One  does  n't  have  to  be  married  to 
know  what  marriage  should  be.  Are  you 
—  "  she  was  peering  up  at  him  anxiously — 
"  are  you  evading  me,  dear  boy  ?  Are  n't 
you  as  happy  as  you  had  thought  to  be  ? 
Tell  me." 

"  Oh,  good  Lord,  yes  1 " 

' '  Bella  makes  you  perfectly  contented 
and  comfortable?" 

His  glance  strayed  beneath  the  lowered 
blinds  to  the  porch  with  its  litter  of  papers 
[161 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


and  magazines,  its  disorder  of  guns  and 
rods  and  cushions,  its  untended  masculine 
confusion. 

"  No  man  could  be  more  comfortable 
than  I,"  said  he,  honestly. 

' '  Then  you  would  n't  have  it  changed, 
would  you  ? "  she  queried,  in  a  tender, 
I-told-you-so  voice. 

' '  Heaven  forbid  I  "  he  fervently  ex- 
claimed. 

His  aunt  smiled  complacently.  She  felt 
as  if  she  were  twin  sister  to  the  little  boy 
of  the  arrows  and  the  quiver,  for  if  it  had 
not  been  for  her  he  would  never,  never 
have  married.  And  now  here  he  was  so 
ideally  contented ! 

"Is  Bella  just  as  happy?"  she  pursued. 

"Just  as  happy.  And  just  as — er  — 
independent." 

"  Does  she  like  it  up  here?"  she  asked. 
It  seemed  a  very  queer  place  to  her,  with- 
out much  to  recommend  it  to  a  woman. 
[-7] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"Well — er  —  that  is,  I  hope  she's 
going  to  like  it." 

"  Oh  1  So  she  does  n't — "  A  recurring 
pain  stopped  her. 

"You  are  talking  too  much,"  he  de- 
clared with  decision.  ' '  You  must  stop  it. 
Why,  Auntie  dear,  in  high  elevations  like 
this  you  ought  n't  to  talk  at  all  just  at  first. 
Not  till  you  're  used  to  it,  you  see." 

Miss  Marianna's  smile  was  twisted  and 
whimsical. 

"  I  'm  afraid  I  'd  never  get  used  to  it. 
.  .  .  Do  you  know,  the  worst  of  it  is  the 
way  my  eyes  seem  to  be  affected.  They're 
never  the  best,  but  I'm  really  almost 

blind  these  last  few  minutes.      I  declare 

1» 
am. 

' '  That  will  pass  if  you  keep  perfectly 
quiet  and  try  to  sleep  till  the  doctor  gets 
here." 

She  sat  up  with  such  startling  asperity 
he  was  afraid  she  would  snap  one  of  the 
[.8] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


brittle  little  old  bones  of  her  or  tear  a  poor 
guttapercha  artery. 

' '  Sleep  !  With  —  this — pain  j  abbing 
away  like  a  hat-pin  into  the  very  heart — 
of  me.  Gavin,  I'm  a  sick  woman.  I 
don't  know  but — I'm  —  g°mg  —  to  die. 
My — heart — and  I  can't  see  you  at  all." 
Her  hand  was  at  her  throat,  her  eyes  were 
glazed  with  terror,  and  her  gray  hair  was 
pushed  back  from  the  high  dome  of  her 
forehead,  giving  her  a  strangely  unfamiliar 
look.  In  that  moment  Langstaff  thought 
her  more  like  his  father^than  like  herself, 
more  like  a  frightened  man  than  a  woman. 
He  was  frantic  with  alarm  for  her,  for  he 
adored  her.  She  was  all  he  had  in  the 
world;  indeed,  father  and  mother  and 
sister  and  brother  in  one.  .  .  .  And  he 
had  treated  her  shamefully.  If  her  one 
ambition,  her  one  dream  for  him,  had  run 
counter  to  his  wishes  was  she  to  blame  ? 

Benjamin  Gockran  responded  creakingly 

[-9] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


to  his  call  for  help,  bringing  with  him 
several  phials  and  a  flask.  There  was  a 
mild  look  of  authority  on  his  face,  and 
Miss  Langstaff  obediently  opened  her  mouth 
and  took  what  he  gave  her,  conveying  by 
a  slightly  satirical  smile  that  since  she  was 
probably  going  to  die  anyhow  it  really 
did  n't  matter. 

"  Has  my  nephew  sent  for  Mrs.  Lang- 
staff?"  she  asked  Gockran  when  Langstaff 
left  them  for  a  moment  to  see  if  the  doctor 
was  not  yet  in  sight. 

' '  Mrs.  —  er  —  Langstaff  ?  "  he  repeated 
in  amazement. 

"  Certainly.  Can't  you  see  that  I 
require  her  ?  " 

"But  why  —  er  —  Mrs.  Langstaff  is 
dead,  ma'm,"  said  he,  gently. 

"  Dead  1  "  The  cry  rang  out,  reaching 
Langstaff  on  the  lower  porch,  and  bringing 
him  on  the  run.  "  When,  oh,  when  did 
she  die  ?" 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"  She  died  some  time  ago,  ma'm,  as 
many  as  twenty  years,  I  should  say," 
muttered  poor  Gockran  in  poignant  per- 
plexity and  embarrassment.  ' '  Langstaff 
was  only  a  little  boy,  I  remember  he  said." 

' '  Idiot ! ' '  cried  Marianna  Langstaff,  her 
face  blazing.  "  Idiot!  How  could  you 
have  failed  to  understand  me  ?  I  was  not 
asking  for  Mr.  LangstafFs  mother,  whom 
I  myself  dressed  in  her  grave  clothes,  but 
for  his  wife." 

"Oh,  —  er  —  yes!  Why,  yes,  of 
course,"  Benjamin  Gockran  said,  and  bent, 
with  the  convulsive  movement  of  a  large 
fish  just  off  the  hook,  over  a  glass  and  a 
powder,  shaking  the  latter  into  the  former 
with  such  violence  that  his  whole  big  body 
moved  with  the  action. 

"  Well,  has  she  or  has  she  not  been  sent 
for  ?  "  she  demanded. 

"I'm    afraid    that    she    hasn't    been, 

»      »» 
ma  m. 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"Then  send.     Do  you  hear?     Send." 

Gavin  Langstaff  reached  the  door  at 
the  moment,  his  face  white  with  anxiety. 
From  the  cry  of  the  instant  before  he  had 
expected  to  find  his  aunt  dying. 

"  Get  Bella,"  she  begged. 

He  stooped  over  her,  pressing  his  dis- 
tracted face  close  to  her  withered  one. 

"I  will,"  he  cried,  "I  will,  if  I  have 
to —  Don't  fret,  dear.  I'll  have  her 
here  in  no  time." 

He  kissed  her  hastily,  stood  up  and  met 
Cockran's  glance  of  sympathetic  but  half- 
amused  inquiry,  set  his  jaws  squarely, 
and  rushed  out  of  the  room. 

On  the  lower  porch  he  stopped  for  an 
instant,  looking  first  up  then  down  the 
grim-walled,  cabinless  canon. 

"My  God!"  he  exclaimed,  the  per- 
spiration standing  out  on  his  forehead, 
"where  am  I  to  find  her — a  wife? 
There  's  only  one  girl  I  know  of  in  miles, 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


and  I  have  n't  even  a  speaking  acquaint- 
ance with  her.  But  she  's  got  to  come, 
or  Aunt  Marianna  will  die  of  the  shock  of 
disappointment  and  disillusionment.  Why 
the  devil  didn't  I  marry  long  ago,  as  she 
thinks  I  did?"  he  groaned  in  dismal  des- 
peration, and  plunged  down  the  mountain 
side. 


CHAPTER   TWO 


' '  Perhaps  when  you  your  way  have  lost, 
You  'II  pause  to  think,  and  count  the  cost 
Of  having  journeyed  by  a  path 
So  undejlned  " 


CHAPTER  TWO 

A.  SLIM  brown  girl  in  a  crisp  white  gown 
lay  in  a  big  Canton  chair  on  the  Brindley 
porch,  her  palm  under  her  cheek,  her  idle 
gaze  lifted  to  the  hills. 

Suddenly  she  sat  up  very  straight, 
listening,  as  feet  scrunched  and  scrambled 
and  slid  on  the  trail,  and  the  bushes  parted 
to  poor  Langstaff,  who  shot  out  like  a  pro- 
jectile, and  gathering  himself  together  ran 
breathlessly  toward  her.  He  had  lost 
his  cap,  and  his  heavy  crop  of  brown 
hair  was  disordered,  his  white  shirt  was 
snagged,  and  his  tie  loosened,  his  face 
flushed,  and  his  canvas  shoes  stained  with 
moss  and  earth. 

She  advanced  to  meet  him,  wondering 
if  he  were  a  madman  or  some  neighbor 
in  acute  distress.  Back  of  her  there  was 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


a  vista  of  a  big  cool  room  with  Indian 
blankets  and  wicker  chairs  and  a  fireplace 
filled  with  boughs.  It  danced  kaleido- 
scopically  before  his  vision  as  he  wiped 
his  brow  and  tried  to  speak. 

"  Something  seems  to  have  happened," 
she  remarked  politely,  seeing  that  it  was 
embarrassment  as  much  as  breathlessness 
which  overcame  him. 

' '  Something  will  happen  unless  — 
Where  is  Mrs.  Brindley  ?  I  ought  to 
speak  with  her  first,  I  suppose." 

"  She's  putting  the  baby  to  sleep,  and 
she  has  been  having  an  awful  time  of  it. 
Don't  you  think  you  might  tell  me?  " 

"You  are  the  girl  who  is  visiting  here, 
aren't  you?" 

"  I  'm  certainly  here,"  she  laughed. 

He  flushed  and  gulped. 

"  That's  plain  enough,  isn't  it?  Brind- 
ley told  me  about  you  the  other  day  com- 
ing up  on  the  cog.  He  said  you  were  an 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


awfully  good  sort.  For  the  life  of  me  I 
can't  remember  your  name." 

' '  Does  that  matter?  "  she  queried,  with 
a  scampering  smile. 

"No,  no,  of  course  not,  but  it  seems 
queer  to  have  come  for  a  girl  whose  name 
you  don't  even  know." 

' fc  Gome  for  her  ?  Have  you  come  for 
me?"  she  cried. 

He  nodded.  "I  need  you  awfully, 
You'll  go,  won't  you?  I'm  in  such  a 
mess." 

Her  eyes  widened. 

"Won't  you  help  me  out?"  he  pleaded. 

"  Make  it  plainer  what  you  want  of  me, 
can't  you?  You  do  sound  so  mysterious. 
And  really  I  can't  think  what  possible 
good  I  could  do  you." 

"Oh,  you  could!  I  know  it  seems 
sheer  impudence  of  me  to  ask  you.  But 
if  you  knew  I  Oh,  good  Lord,  if  you 
knew  I " 

[=9] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"  Suppose  you  tell  me,"  said  she,  a  bit 
crisply. 

"My  aunt  has  just  come  from  Japan, 
and  she's  ill.  I  don't  know  but  she  may 
be  dying.  People  do  die  in  this  elevation, 
though  I  can't  believe  it's  as  bad  as  that 
with  her.  But  she 's  completely  un- 
done, and  I  'm  scared  to  death  about  her, 
and  —  " 

"  Why  on  earth  didn't  you  say  all  this 
in  the  beginning?"  she  interrupted  im- 
patiently. "You  must  have  help,  of 
course.  Mary  will  go  right  up  with  you. 
She's  such  a  good  nurse.  I'll  call  her." 

She  whirled  about,  her  skirts  over- 
turning an  oriole  basket  that  stood  by  the 
door.  As  she  stooped  to  set  it  back  in 
place  he  put  himself  before  her,  barring 
the  way. 

' '  Would  n't  —  er  you  just  as  soon  come 
yourself?"   he  asked,   growing  constraint 
and  embarrassment  in  his  manner. 
[3o] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


She  regarded  him  wonderingly.  "I'm 
no  nurse  at  all  —  " 

"There's  the  baby —  Mrs.  Brindley 
wouldn't  want  to  leave  him." 

' '  Oh,  as  to  that,  I  can  take  care  of  him." 

He  edged  into  the  door  itself,  blocking  it. 

"It's  you  I  want,"  he  brought  forth 
conVulsively.  "And  there  is — is  some- 
thing more  to  tell  you." 

"  Is  anyone  else  dying?"  she  inquired. 

He  mopped  his  forehead  and  ran  a  fore- 
finger around  the  top  of  his  collar. 

' '  I  feel  as  if  I  might,  from  embarrass- 
ment," he  gasped. 

She  laughed  at  that,  but  it  was  from 
something  half  hidden  in  her  eyes  rather 
than  from  the  laugh  itself  that  he  realized 
the  humor  tucked  away  in  her  and  took 
heart  of  cheer. 

"You  needn't  be  afraid  of  me,"  she 
encouraged  kindly  and  demurely. 

"  You 'r«  awfully  good."     He  glanced 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


anxiously  up  the  canon  toward  his  cottage 
and  drew  a  sharp  breath.  "There  isn't 
a  second  to  lose.  And  yet  —  yet  —  how 
am  I  ever  to  tell  you?" 

She  sat  down  on  the  arm  of  the  Canton 
chair. 

"  It  really  begins  to  look  as  if  you 
weren't  going  to,"  she  patiently  observed. 

He  partially  repossessed  himself  at  that. 

"The  fact  is  I  don't  want  you  to  come 
with  me  as  a  nurse  or  a  neighbor,  but 
as  —  as  —  " 

"The  cook.      I  could  do  it." 

"I'll  wager  you  could.  But  it  isn't 
that." 

"How,  then?  " 

' '  As  —  as  my  wife. " 

She  gasped.  She  paled.  She  flushed. 
She  regarded  him  with  anxiety. 

"  If  I  could  be  sure  whether  or  not  you 
are  really  quite  sane,"  she  ventured  in  an 
odd  little  voice. 

[3=] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


4 '  I  was  an  hour  ago,  but  I  '11  swear  I 
don't  know  about  it  now.  You  see,  I 
don't  really  want  to  marry  you,"  he  ex- 
plained. "I  only  want  to  seem  to  be 
married  to  you.  Do  you  understand?" 

She  stared  at  him  wildly. 

1 '  No  —  goodness,  mercy,  no  I  "  she 
crie'd. 

Then  he  told  her,  in  incoherent  detail, 
all  there  was  to  tell.  His  aunt  was  his 
only  near  relative  he  said.  And  this 
seemed  to  impress  her.  There  were  only 
her  grandfather  and  herself  in  their  own 
family,  she  told  him,  so  she  could  under- 
stand something  of  what  the  relation- 
ship must  be.  He  nodded  eagerly,  and 
went  on  to  say  that  he  owed  his  aunt 
everything;  they  had  been  the  warmest 
friends  and  the  greatest  comrades.  They 
understood  each  other  perfectly  and  had 
never  had  any  trouble  except  over  his 
marriage. 

3  [33] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


For  years  she  had  urged  that,  and  he 
had  demurred.  He  hadn't  felt  quite 
ready  for  it,  but  once  she  had  decided  that 
he  ought  to  marry  he  should  have  had 
the  sense  to  acquiesce.  There  was  simply 
no  going  against  her.  He  had  held  out 
pretty  well,  however,  until  last  year, 
when  he  had  promised  to  marry  before 
she  got  back  to  America ;  and  she  had 
declared  that  if  he  did  so  she  would  give 
him  the  money  he  needed  to  further  his 
business  interests,  but  that  if  he  refused 
she  would  hand  it  over  to  some  choice 
charity.  Now  he  wanted  that  money,  but 
this  wasn't  what  was  bothering  him:  he 
had  given  his  word,  and  he  had  n't  kept 
it.  He  had  meant  to  do  it,  but  how  was 
he  to  foresee  that  she  would  shorten  her 
stay  abroad  by  three  months  ?  She  had 
come  back  in  June  when  she  should  have 
stayed  until  September.  And  she  had 
come  straight  to  the  Skyland,  expecting 
[34]  ' 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


to  find  him  established  there  with  his 
bride  for  the  summer. 

If  she  had  been  well  he  could  have  told 
her  the  truth  at  once,  but  what  was  he  to 
do  now  ?  Any  deception  to  keep  her  from 
knowing  that  he  had  failed  to  comply 
with  her  wish  would,  it  seemed  to  him, 
be  excusable. 

Davie  Bessire  swayed  thoughtfully  on 
the  arm  of  the  chair. 

' '  Do  I  understand  that  your  aunt  se- 
lected the  girl  for  you?"  she  questioned. 

He  nodded  quite  honestly. 

"Her  name  is  Bella,  Bella  Kaye.  I  've 
known  her  since  she  was  in  caps  and 
bootees.  Her  family  and  Aunt  Marianna 
decreed  us  for  each  other  even  then." 

Her  lips  twisted  oddly. 

' '  Has  she  been  any  more  enthusiasti- 
cally acquiescent  in  the  matter  than  you 
seem  to  have  been  ?"  she  ventured. 

"Oh,  we've  always  understood  each 
[35] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


other  perfectly.  We  've  been  busy  with 
our  own  pursuits  and  interests,  and  she 
is  n't  any  more  given  to  sentimentalism 
and  that  sort  of  thing  than  I  am.  When 
the  time  came  for  it  we  've  known  that 
we  'd  be  contented  and  comfortable  to- 
gether. But  meanwhile  we  've  got  on 
very  well  apart.  Do  you  see  ?" 

"I  don't  think  I  do  —  quite,"  said 
Davie  Bessire. 

"  You  mustn't  misjudge  her,"  he  urged. 
' '  She  's  neither  cold-blooded  nor  tamely 
yielding.  She 's  just  common-sensed  and 
dependable.  You  can  always  put  your 
finger  on  her.  She  never  changes.  Why, 
by  George,  I  never  knew  that  girl  to 
change  in  her  life,  except  when  she  went 
from  pinafores  to  long  skirts,  and  she  did 
that  so  gradually  you  never  noticed  it 
until  it  was  accomplished.  As  for  deceiv- 
ing herself  or  me  in  this  matter,  she 
wouldn't.  She  fairly  worships  honesty." 
[36] 


Davie  Bessire  swayed  thoughtfully  on  the  arm  of  the  chair 

Page  35 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"  M-mm.      I  know  the  type,  I  think." 

"It's  a  fine  type,"  maintained  he, 
loyally. 

"  Of  course  it  is.  But  I'm  afraid  the 
role  is  too  exalted  for  me  to  undertake. 
You  see  I  'm  out  and  out  earthy.  I  lie 
when  it's  needed,  and  I  evade  when  its 
diplomatic.  I  dont  worship  honesty, 
especially  when  its  undressed  —  drapery 
becomes  truth  as  much  as  it  does  a  slim 
woman  in  my  opinion.  I  do  all  sorts  of 
things  I  shouldn't  and  that  your  Bella 
wouldn't ;  and  your  aunt  would  know 
the  difference  in  a  minute." 

"Then  you  won't  go?"  he  cried  in 
dismay. 

"I'd  only  botch  things  for  you.  Don't 
you  see?" 

' '  But  my  aunt  is  practically  blind  — 

she 's    always  near-sighted  and    the  pain 

seems  to  affect  her  eyes  almost  as  much  as 

her  heart.     The  deception  would  be  easy. 

[37] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


And  it  need  n't  last  but  a  day  or  two,  as 
Bella  is  in  the  state,  and  will  come  at 
once,  I  'm  sure." 

"I  couldn't  do  it.  Bella  wouldn't 
arrive  before  your  aunt  would  take  in  the 
truth.  You'll  have  to  get  someone  else." 

"Get  someone  else!"  he  exclaimed. 
"  Where?  Tell  me  that.  Even  while  we 
waste  time  talking  here  Aunt  Marianna  is 
no  doubt  working  herself  into  an  awful 
state,  and  — " 

"I'm  sorry.  But  it  wouldn't  be  the 
least  good,  my  going.  If  the  girl  were 
any  other  sort  I  wouldn't  hesitate." 

"  You  see  what  a  fix  it  leaves  me  in," 
he  cried. 

"Why  don't  you  try  Minnehaha  Inn 
for  girls  ?  " 

His  expression  was  grim. 

"Excuse  me  for  having  troubled  you," 
he  remarked  with  dignity,  and  moved 
toward  the  steps. 

[38] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


She  balanced  on  the  arm  of  the  chair, 
somewhat  regretfully  regarding  his  de- 
parture. 

"  If  only  she  weren't  such  a  paragon," 
she  murmured. 

"  If  you  choose  to  exaggerate  her 
virtues,"  he  turned  to  retort,  "  I  can't 
help  it.  She  is  a  very  ordinary  girl.  But 
it's  your  privilege  to  decline  to  help  me. 
I'm  sorry  I  troubled  you.  Good-morning. " 

To  the  salutation  she  made  110  reply 
whatever.  Slowly  she  swung  back  and 
forth  propelled  by  her  toes,  a  kindly  and 
half  humorous  expression  in  her  eyes. 

"  It 's  too  bad,"  she  said  to  herself.  "  I 
hate  to  be  unaccommodating,  but  oh, 
heavens,  Bella  !" 


[39] 


CHAPTER  THREE 


For  easie  things  that  may  be  got  at  will, 
Most  sorts  of  men  doe  set  but  little  store 


CHAPTER  THREE 

i  LUNGING  down  the  mountain,  poor 
Langstaff  wheezed  and  raged  alternately. 
His  extreme  anxiety  for  his  aunt,  and  his 
fear  -  of  not  finding  a  girl,  made  him 
desperate.  He  saw  himself  pitching  onto 
the  Inn  porch  and  charging  the  bevy  of 
summer  girls  there.  He  had  even  a  vision 
of  himself  carrying  off  one  of  them  bodily, 
her  blond  puffs  bobbing  and  her  silly  heels 
kicking.  Then  a  chill  seized  him — sup- 
pose there  was  n't  a  girl  there  ?  Gould 
the  inn  keeper's  wife  be  made  to  an- 
swer? If  she  proved  the  only  female 
on  the  mountain  side  she  would  have  to 
go.  He  set  his  teeth  and  increased  his 
speed.  He  looked  back  at  the  Skyland 
flag  flying  bravely  against  the  blue  of 
the  afternoon  sky.  Had  the  doctor  got 
[43] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


there    yet?       Was    his    aunt    somewhat 
relieved  ? 

The  rocks  rattled  after  him  as  he  dashed 
down  the  trail,  and  the  bushes  flew  aside, 
flapping  when  he  had  passed  like  long, 
menacing  arms. 

Then  a  voice  out  of  the  pines  brought 
him  up  with  an  immense  start. 

A  woman  was  standing  on  the  trail  be- 
low looking  up  at  him.  She  had  a  parasol 
over  her  head  and  a  book  in  her  hands, 
and  as  she  stood  there  among  the  trees  she 
looked,  with  her  russet  hair  and  her  water- 
green  gown,  more  like  a  creature  of  the 
woods  than  a  mere  woman.  And  indeed 
if  a  nymph  or  a  dryad  had  arisen  in  his 
way  he  could  not  have  been  more  greatly 
surprised  than  he  was  to  see  Genevra 
Tellant. 

"  My  bad,  bad  boy  come  back  to  me," 
she  murmured  prettily,  with  just  a  touch 
of  banter  in  her  voice,  and  quite  as  if  he 

[44] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


had  merely  run  round  the  corner  a  moment 
ago,  when  in  reality  it  had  been  years  since 
they  had  met. 

Sailing  from  New  York  to  Bremen,  he 
had,  upon  finding  her  irretrievably  com- 
mitted to  Tellant,  whom  she  was  then  on 
her  way  to  marry,  made  rather  violent  love 
to  her.  It  was  a  heady,  indiscreet  thing 
to  do,  as  he  told  himself  at  the  time,  but 
such  an  indulgence  was  not  one  to  which 
he  often  yielded,  and  he  could  see  little 
hazard  in  it,  since  the  brief  days  of  the 
voyage  were  the  only  ones  they  were  ever 
likely  to  spend  together. 

She  was  an  American,  thickly  encrusted 
with  foreignisms.  Most  of  her  life  had 
been  spent  abroad,  and  she  and  Tellant 
were  to  live  in  Leipsic. 

When  the  voyage  had  ended  they  parted 
somewhat  emotionally,  and  he  had  heard 
nothing  of  or  from  her  since.  He  sup- 
posed she  had  lived  an  ideal  marital  exist- 
[45] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


ence,  and  that  she  should  be  here  now  did 
not  surprise  him  after  the  first  shock  of 
astonishment,  since  all  travelers  find  their 
way  sooner  or  later  to  the  Rockies .  Tellant 
was  probably  down  at  the  inn. 

Suddenly  he  had  a  flash  of  light  —  why 
shouldn't  she  help  him  in  his  dilemma? 
It  would  be  much  less  embarrassing  to  ask 
this  of  her  than  of  a  stranger,  and  she  was 
very  accommodating  he  remembered.  His 
spirits  quickened  with  the  thought.  He 
fairly  wrung  her  hands  with  cordiality, 
beaming  at  her  with  such  warmth  that 
she  colored  daintily. 

"What  vehemence  of  welcome,"  she 
murmured,  half  caressingly.  "  And  where 
were  you  going,  pray  ?  You  blew  down 
the  hill  like  a  typhoon." 

"I  was  going  to  er — to  London  town 
to  get  myself  a  wife." 

Her  very  dark  brows  lifted  over  her  very 
bright  eyes. 

[46] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"  So !  And  without  a  wheelbarrow  ? 
But  in  any  case  your  wife  would  never 
have  a  fall." 

"Mrs.  Tellant,  will  you  seem  to  be  wife 
to  me  ?  "  he  demanded  rather  startlingly. 

"  Why,  are  you  in  earnest  about  the 
wife?"  she  exclaimed.  "How  extraordi- 
nary! Do  tell  me  what  you  mean.  What 
is  it?" 

"It  is  my  Aunt  Marianna,"  said  he, 
gravely. 

' '  Is  n't  it  usually  your  Aunt  Marianna  ?" 
she  suggested. 

"This  is  worse  than  ever  before."  And 
he  hurried  to  explain. 

"  But  Bella — you  did  n't  tell  me  about 
her,"  she  reproached  him  when  he  had 
finished.  "Yet — I  forgive  you,  since 
there  are  a  few  things  I  did  n't  tell  you 
myself.  And  so  you  want  me  to  play 

Bella  until  the  real  one  arrives  upon  the 

?•» 

[47] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"  Will  you  ?  "  he  entreated. 

"Is  there  anything  on  earth  I  wouldn't 
do  for  you?  But  tell  me,  what  is  she 
like?"  ' 

"I  must  have  told  you  that,"  he  in- 
sisted ;  but  she  shook  her  head,  her  laugh 
rippling  musically  : 

"  In  those  days — our  days — we  talked 
only  of  each  other.  Have  you  forgotten  ?" 

"And  of  Tellant.  You  were  on  your 
way  to  Naples  to  marry  him,  you 
remember." 

"Yes,  yes!  Now  I  am  on  my  way  to 
New  York  to  forget  him.  But  let  us  not 
speak  of  him  now." 

"You  can't  mean — oh,  I  say,  you 
really  can't  mean  that — " 

"Many  things  have  happened,"  she 
faltered.  Now  faltering  in  a  woman  like 
Genevra  Tellant  is  as  unnatural  as  stum- 
bling in  a  trained  trackster,  and  he  was  not 
deceived  by  it.  Indeed  he  found  himself 
[48] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


wondering  how  many  limes  she  had  done 
it,  thus  effectively,  at  the  exact  spot  in  the 
narrative  of  her  marital  infelicities. 

"  Life  is  full  of  disillusionments  and 
disappointments,"  she  went  on,  in  that 
halting  way,  as  if  whatever  had  happened 
had  left  her  still  a  little  dazed,  a  little 
bew'ildered.  "I — I  have  not  seen  my 
husband  in  eighteen  months,  and  I  shall 
probably  never  see  him  again.  But  I  beg 
you,  Gavin,  dear  friend,  do  not  let  us 
speak  of  that  now." 

Assuredly  it  was  the  last  thing  in  the 
world  Langstaff  wanted  to  speak  of  at  the 
moment  —  or  for  the  matter  of  that,  at 
any  time.  Above  her  lovely  bent  head  he 
glanced  anxiously  up  toward  the  cottage 
where  his  thoughts  all  centered.  To  get 
her  there  as  expeditiously  as  possible  was 
his  one  concern.  Murmuring  incoherent 
sympathy  he  begged  her  to  come  with  him , 
and  with  a  smile  meant  to  convey  fortitude 

4  [49] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


in  her  own  sorrow  and  interest  in  his  wel- 
fare, she  laid  one  hand  on  his  arm,  and 
with  the  other  lifted  the  frills  of  her 
charming  gown. 

* '  Take  me  to  your  aunt  and  see  whether 
or  not  I  will  be  Bella,"  she  commanded. 

His  fingers  closed  over  hers.  His 
gratitude  was  really  fervent.  He  hurried 
her  along  the  trail,  lifting  her  over  the 
steep  places  and  steadying  her  across  the 
rocks  of  the  boiling  little  canon  stream. 
He  all  but  ran  her  up  to  the  foot  of  the 
bungalow  steps. 

Laughing  breathlessly  she  swept  her 
hand  up  her  back  hair,  lifted  the  lace  of 
her  stock  closer  to  her  chin,  and  shook  the 
dust  from  her  multiple  ruffles. 

"Did  I  tire  you  ?  "  he  asked  anxiously. 
"  Was  it  too  steep  a  climb  ?"  Now  that 
he  had  got  her  here  he  was  contrite 
at  the  precipitous  way  in  which  he  had 
done  it. 

[5o] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


Still  breathless  she  shook  her  head, 
smiling  reassurance  at  him. 

At  the  instant  a  breeze  ran  down  the 
canon  and  darting  into  Miss  Marianna 
Langstaffs  room  brought  out  with  it  the 
heavy  odor  of  medicine. 

Genevra  Tellant  lifted  her  awed  face  to 
Langs taff,  the  laughter  gone  from  it,  leav- 
ing it  almost  childishly  sweet  and  grave, 
the  red  lips  trembling  a  little. 

"Oh,"  she  whispered,  "it  seemed 
like  private  theatricals,  and  it  may  be 
death !  ' ' 

At  the  moment  Benjamin  Gockran 
squeaked  down  the  steps  from  the  upper 
porch,  his  face,  in  its  solemn  whiteness, 
resembling  the  pasty  smoothness  of  an 
unbaked  biscuit. 

"  How  is  she  ?"  cried  Langstaff. 

"Easier,  I  think." 

"  Has  the  doctor  come  yet  ?  " 

"  Not  yet.  Yim  probably  had  to  follow 
[5iJ 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


him  into  the  woods  somewhere.    .    .    .You 
have  brought  your  wife,  I  see." 

Langstaff  smiled  feebly. 

"  This  is  —  Bella,"  said  he. 

* 

Gockran  bowed  gravely. 

* '  It  may  interest  you  to  know  that  she 
is  already  here,"  he  remarked. 

"  Bella  ?  "  shouted  Langstaff. 

"  One  Bella,"  answered  Gockran. 

"  She  is  up  there?"  demanded  Gavin 
Langstaff,  tragically. 

Gockran  nodded  his  big  head.  "  Up 
there  making  herself  very  useful  to  your 
Aunt  Marianna,"  said  he. 


CHAPTER   FOUR 


"  You  are  too  double 
In  your  dissimulation." 


CHAPTER  FOUR 

W  AIT  here ! ' '  cried  Langstaff  in  great 
excitement;  and  Mrs.  Tellant  sank  into  a 
chair,  her  gown  rippling  about  her,  her 
slender,  ring-heavy  hands  dropping  over 
the  chair's  arms,  an  expression  of  unac- 
customed annoyance  on  her  face.  To 
Benjamin  Gockran  she  gave  scarcely  a 
glance,  and  having  stood  about  helplessly 
for  a  minute  he  withdrew. 

As  Gavin  Langstaff  approached  his 
aunt's  door  the  voice  that  reached  him 
teased  his  memory.  Certainly  it  could 
not  be  Bella's,  he  told  himself,  yet  in 
the  darkened  room  the  small  white  figure 
beside  the  bed  looked  not  unlike  his 
fiancee's. 

"Bella    is    here,    you  see,"    cried    his 
aunt,   hearing  his  step. 
[55] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


The  girl  beside  the  bed  straightened  and 
faced  him:  it  was  Davie  Bessire. 

"I  must  have  missed  you,  dear,"  she 
said  connubially.  "There,  Auntie,  are 
you  quite,  quite  comfy  now?" 

Sedately  she  smoothed  the  pillows,  but 
there  was  a  hint  of  daring  in  her  that 
did  not  escape  him  as  he  stood  dumb- 
founded on  the  other  side  of  the  bed. 

"  Perfectly  so,  child,"  said  Miss  Lang- 
staff,  with  a  breath  of  profound  relief. 
"Men  are  well-meaning,  but  deliver  me 
from  them  in  an  emergency.  They 
would  get  on  exactly  as  well  without 
heads  as  with  them.  Now  here  you  are, 
Bella,  home  but  five  minutes  or  so,  and 
yet  I  am  comfortably  in  bed,  with  quiet 
restored.  I've  just  been  telling  her, 
Gavin,  how  greatly  improved  I  think 
her." 

"Yes,  isn't  she?"  he  heartily  agreed. 
He  was  beginning  to  rally. 
[56] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"  But,"  went  on  his  aunt,  while  Davie 
swept  him  a  sternly  reproving  glance,  "  I 
don't  at  all  like  her  having  grown  so  thin. 
Why,  her  hand  is  scarcely  larger  than 
mine,  and  it  used  to  be  quite  plump. 
What  size  glove  did  you  wear,  Bella?" 

"  Seven,  dear." 

"Seven!  Oh,  horrors,  no!  Your  hand 
was  never  so  large  as  that.  But  you  can't 
wear  more  than  a  five  and  three  quarters 
now." 

"It's  a  much  more  economical  sized 
hand  to  have.  They're  always  having 
sales  of  gloves  under  six,  you  know," 
replied  Davie,  with  a  laugh. 

' '  Hear  her  !  I  guess  there 's  no  dan- 
ger of  her  breaking  you  up,  eh,  Gavin  ?  " 

"I'm  not  so  sure  about  that,"  said 
Langstaff,  looking  admiringly  at  the  deft 
little  figure  moving  lightly  about  the  room, 
setting  it  to  rights. 

Davie's  frown  would  have  been  more 
[57] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


severe  had  she  not  been  busy  blowing  the 
hair  out  of  her  eyes.  She  was  not  an 
untidy  person,  by  any  means,  but  she  had 
the  kind  of  hair  that  is  always  in  the  way, 
so  that  in  moments  of  comedy  and  tragedy 
alike  she  had  forever  to  be  blowing  it  out. 

Miss  Langstaff,  propped  among  the  pil- 
lows, turned  her  straining  eyes  from  one 
to  the  other  of  them  :  "I  can't  make  out 
just  what  the  change  is  in  her,"  she 
mused,  "but  even  her  voice  sounds  dif- 
ferent to  me." 

Langs taflTs  perturbed  glance  sought  the 
girl,  and  she  came  swiftly  to  the  rescue. 
Bending  over  the  invalid  she  touched  with 
her  soft  lips  the  band  of  wrinkled  fore- 
head which  in  years  no  one  had  thought 
of  kissing. 

* '  '  Not  all  that  we  have  been  do  we  re- 
main,' "  she  quoted  lightly,  while  Lang- 
staff  drew  a  breath  of  relief  and  pinned 
his  faith  to  her  on  the  spot. 
[58] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"You  used  to  awe  me  a  little,  my 
dear,"  the  old  lady  continued,  reminis- 
cently.  "You  were  so  very  virtuous. 
You  don't  mind  my  saying  that  I  'm  glad 
to  find  you  a  bit  more  human,  do  you? 
I  'm  such  an  old  heathen  myself  that  ab- 
normal superiority  always  frightens  me." 

Davie's  laugh  was  infectious  :  "If  I've 
a  prayer,  it's  to  be  kept  human  in  this 
day  of  —  what  shall  I  call  them  ?  —  saints 
or  scientists  ?  " 

Marianna  Langstaff  laughed  too — ap- 
provingly. "  That's  a  healthy  sentiment. 
Gavin,  I  congratulate  you  on  your  wife's 
good  sense.  The  future  of  your  children 
is  safe  in  her  hands." 

A  furious  singeing  red  swept  the  girl's 
little  brown  face,  while  Langstaff  lurched 
into  the  conversational  pause  which  fol- 
lowed, dragging  with  him  the  first  thing 
he  could  lay  hands  on  to  throw  into  the 
current  and  change  the  stream  of  his 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


aunt's  comments.  What  she  had  to  say, 
however,  swept  unobstructedly  on. 

"  It  takes  such  a  lot  of  money  to  keep 
a  family  going  these  days,  and  I  'm  so 
happy  to  find  that  you  have  followed  my 
wish  in  the  matter,  Gavin,  and  married 
young,  as  every  man  ought  to  marry,  that 
I'm  going  to  do  the  right  handsome  thing 
by  you.  I  don't  want  you  to  worry  over 
material  possessions.  And  I  don't  want 
Bella  and  the  children —  " 

"Please!"  broke  forth  poor  Davie,  un- 
controllably. 

Miss  Langs taff  laughed  gently,  then 
drew  a  breath  of  pain  and  lay  quiet  for 
a  moment  while  Davie  smoothed  her  fore- 
head. When  the  attack  was  over  she 
continued : 

"  So  I  mean  to  settle  upon  Bella  and 
the  youngsters  a  sum  quite  adequate  —  " 

"  Oh,  Auntie,  why  will  you  insist — " 

"Now,    now,    my    dear  boy,    it   isn't 

[60] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


going  to  make  me  die  a  minute  sooner  to 
begin  to  dispose  of  my  money.  Let  us 
talk  it  over  sensibly  and  quietly.  I  expect 
to  see  those  babies  —  " 

"Dear  Miss  Langstaff,  don't,"  pleaded 
tl\e  girl  in  a  chaos  of  confusion. 

' '  Well,  well,  we  won't  talk  about  them 
if  you  don't  want  to,  but  there  is  one 
thing  more  I  do  want  to  say,  and  then — " 

"Mr.  Gockran  is  calling,"  said  Davie, 
and  Langstaff  arose  with  alacrity,  but  his 
aunt  put  up  a  peremptory  hand  and  bade 
him  let  Benjamin  Gockran  wait. 

"I  want  your  promise  that  the  girl 
shall  be  called  Marianna,"  said  she.  "It's 
a  fancy  of  mine  that  I'm  sure  you  will 
indulge.  Besides,  the  name  isn't  such  a 
bad  one.  Now  is  it?  What  do  you  say?" 

The  crisis  endured  for  a  second,  then 
Langstaff  murmured :  "I  am  sure  that 
Bella  will  wish  it  to  be  as  you  wish  it, 
Auntie." 

[61] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"It  is  to  be  Marianna,  then?"  she 
crowed,  finding  Davie's  hand  and  press- 
ing it. 

"  Oh,  yes,  yes,"  murmured  Davie. 
"Really,  Gavin,  you  must  see  what  Mr. 
Gockran  wants." 

A  few  minutes  later  she  too  made  her 
temporary  escape,  only  to  find  Langstaff 
pacing  the  hall. 

"When  were  we  married?"  she  de- 
manded. "  I  've  been  in  mortal  terror  for 
fear  she'd  ask  me  to  tell  her  all  about  it." 

"Let's  see,"  he  reflected.  "Shall  we 
say  two  months  ago  ?  That  would  make 
it  about  the  time  she  expected  it  to  take 
place.  There  was  talk  of  my  having  to 
go  on  a  long  Canadian  trip,  and  she 
thought  Bella  should  go  with  me." 

' '  Do  you  happen  to  recall  the  exact 
date  of  the  marriage?"  she  asked  gravely. 

"  I  suppose  it  ought  to  have  been  on  a 
Wednesday,  ought  n't  it?" 
[62] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"  Oh,  yes,  everybody  is  married  on 
Wednesday." 

"  How  would  the  tenth  of  April  do?" 
he  questioned,  consulting  a  pocket  cal- 
endar. 

She  nodded.  "Where  were  we  mar- 
ried ?" 

"In  your  mother's  old-fashioned 
parlor." 

' '  Under  a  bell  of  smilax  and  carna- 
tions ?" 

"  Not  much,"  he  declared  with  empha- 
sis. "  There  was  no  such  nonsense." 

"I  forgot.  There  wasn't  any  nonsense 
of  any  sort  about  it,  was  there?"  And 
the  look  she  gave  him  made  him  some- 
what uncomfortable.  He  was  of  the 
opinion  that,  on  her  part,  she  believed 
whole-heartedly  in  nonsense  of  a  good 
many  sorts . 

"  Have  I  a  father  as  well  as  a  mother?" 
she  inquired  after  an  instant. 
[63] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"You  had.  He  died  several  years 
ago." 

' '  Was  I  very  fond  of  him  ?  " 

"  Reasonably  so." 

*  *  I  'm  not  unreasonably  fond  of  anyone, 
am  I?  You  see  I  mustn't  appear  out  of 
character." 

"You  certainly  aren't  foolishly  fond 
of  your  —  husband,"  he  declared  rather 
grimly. 

Her  eyes  widened,  and  she  hesitated, 
then  said  gently :  ' '  But  I  do  care  a  little, 
don't  I  ?  As  much  as  some  wives — most 
wives  — care  ?" 

"  You  care  comfortably  and  genteelly. 
That  doesn't  make  the  role  difficult,  you 
see." 

"I  '11  do  my  best.  But  I  want  to  tell 
you  why  I  came  after  I  had  said  I  would  n't, 
you  know.  It  really  seemed  so  odious  not 
to  try  to  help  you  that  I  made  up  my 
mind  to  take  the  chance  at  deceiving  your 
[64] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


aunt.  I  'm  afraid  I  sha'n't  be  able  to  do 
it.  She  already  notices  many  differences. 
But  since  there  's  nothing  else  for  it,  I  '11 
see  you  through,  and  we  '11  hope  for 
the  best.  Why,  who  is  that?"  She  was 
staring  down  at  the  projecting  corner  of 
the  lower  porch  where  Mrs.  Tellant  sat 
waiting. 

"That  is  another  Bella,"  he  stam- 
mered. 

"Another  Bella?  Then  I've  only  botched 
things  by  coming  !  I'll  go  straight  away." 

"You  can't!  You  mustn't!  You've 
begun  to  be  Bella,  and  you  '11  have  to  keep 
it  up.  That  is  Mrs.  Tellant,  an  old  friend 
of  mine,  who  is  staying  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. I  ran  across  her  on  the  trail  just 
after  I  left  the  Brindleys,  and  she  con- 
sented to  come  up  and  help  me  out,  but 
it  wouldn't  do  at  all  to  try  to  make  an 
exchange  now,  for  Aunt  Marianna  would 
know  in  a  minute.  Besides,  you  are  a 

5  [65] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


much  better  Bella  than  she  could  possibly 
be,  and  I'll  have  to  depend  on  your  stay- 
ing by  me." 

"Oh,  that's  all  right,  if  you  really 
want  me,"  said  she,  with  the  flash  of  an 
honest  smile.  "Now  I  must  get  along 
back  to  Miss  Langstaff." 

' '  Sh  I  Wait  a  second,  will  you  ?  "  called 
Cockran,  moving  down  the  hall  on  his 
toes.  "She  doesn't  go  away,  you  know, 
Langstaff,  the  other  Bella.  What  shall  I 
do  with  her?" 

With  an  exclamation  at  his  own  neg- 
lect, Langstaff  was  moving  toward  the 
stairs  when  the  doctor's  face  appeared  at 
the  landing. 

"The  lady  below — Mrs.  Langstaff,  I 
presume  ?  —  told  me  to  come  up  if  I 
liked,"  he  explained. 

There  was  a  second's  pause,  then  Gavin 
Langstaff  said  quietly : 

"  This  is  Mrs.  Langstaff,  Doctor — " 
[66] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"Barber  is  my  name.  How  do  you 
do,  madam?" 

Madam  looked  girlishly  embarrassed, 
but  she  bowed  as  gravely  as  the  occasion 
required  and  led  the  way  at  once  to  Miss 
Langstaff. 

Meanwhile  Genevra  Tellantwas  moving 
restlessly  about  the  lower  porch  when  a 
small,  smoky-skinned  man  with  a  white 
imperial  and  twinkling  eyes  climbed  the 
steps  of  the  bungalow  and,  reaching  the 
high  plane  of  the  porch,  carefully  brushed 
the  dust  from  his  white  flannels  before  he 
addressed  her: 

"  Is  she  dead  ?  "  he  questioned. 

"Dead?  Not  at  all,  I  think,"  said  she, 
chillily. 

The  brows  of  the  little  old  gentleman 
made  interrogation  marks  of  themselves. 

"Much  ado  about  nothing,  eh?"  he 
suggested. 

' '  I  have  about  come  to  that  conclusion." 

[67] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"  Bless  me  !  " 

They  stared  politely  at  each  other. 

' '  I  think  I  have  not  the  pleasure  of 
knowing  you,  madam,"  he  remarked. 

"My  name  is  Tellant,"  replied  she, 
stiffly. 

"  And  are  you  upon  the  bridge?"  in- 
quired he. 

"The  bridge?"  repeated  she. 

"  Certainly,"  he  twinkled;  "  someone 
must  be  in  authority  here." 

"  Quite  the  contrary,  I  should  say." 

"Dear  me!  Is  that  so,  indeed.  Then 
alack  for  the  ship  of  finesse !  I  be- 
lieve I  have  a  granddaughter  somewhere 
about,"  he  remarked  presently,  quite 
unabashed  by  her  frigid  manner.  A 
faint  degree  of  interest  seemed  now  to 
awaken  in  her,  however. 

"Is  she  betrothed  to  Mr.  Langstaff?  " 
she  asked. 

"Why,  good  Lord,  ma'm,  she  never 
[68] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


saw  him  until  she  came  up  here  to 
him." 

' '  Then  she  is  n't  Bella  Kaye  ?  "  There 
was  immense  relief  in  her  voice. 

"She  is  merely  a  substituted  Bella," 
grinned  he.  And  he  drew  a  chair  and 
proceeded  to  make  himself  comfortable. 

The  lively  glitter  of  his  personality, 
the  twinkle  in  the  depths  of  his  old  eyes, 
the  lines  so  deeply  etched  in  his  smoky 
skin,  and  the  apparent  health  of  his  wiry 
body  were  all  attractive,  but  Mrs.  Tellant 
did  not  like  him.  While  he,  on  his  part, 
as  promptly  and  as  cordially  disliked 
Mrs.  Tellant. 

"You  are  a  friend  of  the  household, 
I  take  it,"  he  observed. 

"Mr.  Langstaff  has  not  a  warmer,  bet- 
ter friend  than  I,"  said  she.  "  And  you  ?" 

"  Merely  a  visitor  in  the  neighborhood. 
LangstafFs  need  of  help  seems  to  have 
been  pretty  imperative  ?  Tight  box,  is  n't 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


it  ?  I  got  only  part  of  the  story  from 
Mrs.  Brindley.  Can  you  tell  me  if  that 
granddaughter  of  mine  has  begun  the 
role  of  niece-in-law  to  the  erratic  old  lady 
yet?" 

"  I  do  not  know.  I  had  expected  to  go 
at  once  to  Miss  Langstaff,  but  I  found  that 
Miss  — " 

"  Bessire  is  her  name,  and  my  own." 
"I  found  Miss  Bessire  installed  there." 
*'  The    solemnities    of    the    installation 
can    hardly   be    complete,"    he    retorted, 
' '  and    since  we   seem  equally  interested 
in    interrupting    them,     suppose    we    see 
what  we  can  do  about  it.      If  possible  I 
want   to    take   my    girl    home    with   me, 
while  you,  as  evidently,  desire  to  remain. 
Therefore    let   us   effect    an    exchange    of 
Bellas.     What  do  you  say?" 
The  lady  now  smiled  amiably. 
"  A    very  good   suggestion,   since   you 
are  strangers  and    I    a   friend." 

[70] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


' '  Here  's  my  girl  now.  She  '11  be  able 
to  help  us,"  he  exclaimed  as  Davie  came 
down  the  stairs.  "  Davie,  this  lady, 
who  is  an  old  friend  of  Mr.  Langtaff  s,  is 
anxious  to  relieve  you  of  duty.  If  we 
might  speak  with  Mr.  Langstaff,  I  dare 
say  the  substitution  may  be  made." 

Davie  stood  on  the  bottom  step,  her 
glance  traveling  slowly  from  the  graceful 
proportions  of  the  older  woman's  figure 
to  her  own  slim  almost  boyish  shape. 

"We  aren't  exactly  duplicates,  you 
see,"  she  smiled. 

"  But  as  I  understand  it,  Miss  LangstafF 
is  almost  blind,"  urged  her  grandfather. 

"Yes,  her  sight  is  very  bad,  but 
Mr.  Langstaff  is  just  coming.  Let  him 
decide." 

"  To  be  sure.  My  dear  Langstaff," 
said  Bessire,  the  presentations  over,  "you 
must  believe  that  both  my  granddaughter 
and  I  welcome  the  opportunity  to  serve 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


you,  but  we  must  not  forget  that  it  is  to 
one's  friends  that  one  turns  at  a  time  like 
this.  On  this  lady  "  —  with  a  bow  in 
Mrs.  Tellant's  direction — ' '  you  will  natu- 
rally rely,  and  it  is  her  privilege  to  help 
you." 

Genevra  Tellant  gave  him  a  brilliant 
smile,  then  she  flashed  another,  of  a  very 
different  sort,  on  Langs  taff. 

"  Mr.  Bessire  puts  it  wisely,"  she  said 
softly.  "  After  all,  the  privilege  is  mine, 
Gavin." 

"  But  my  dear  Mrs.  Tellant,  think  of 
the  difference  between  you  and  Miss  Bes- 
sire," he  cried;  "  between  you  and  the  real 
Bella,  whose  height  happens  to  be  exactly 
Miss  Bessire's.  Poor  Aunt  Marianna  is 
in  a  bad  way,  but  she  still  has  most  of 
her  senses,  and  if  we  should  try  to  foist 
another  Bella  on  her,  a  Bella  who  has 
grown  a  foot  in  the  last  five  minutes,  on 
my  word  I  don't  think  she  'd  stand  for  it." 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


His  glance  moved  appealingly  about  the 
small  circle. 

"In  the  darkened  room,  with  her  sight 
as  it  is,  Miss  Bessire  passes  very  well 
for  Miss  Kaye,"  he  continued;  "  but  Aunt 
Marianna  is  shrewd,  and  we  could  n't  hope 
to  deceive  her  with  someone  so  entirely 
different.  We  dare  n't  take  any  risks  in 
the  matter.  The  doctor  says  she  must 
be  kept  from  all  excitement  and  emotion. 
So  you  see  the  masquerade  must  be  suc- 
cessfully maintained." 

Genevra  Tellant  smiled  her  most  ingra- 
tiating smile,  with  just  a  touch  of  affection- 
ate reproach  in  it. 

"  Dear  boy,  don't  look  so  troubled 
about  it,"  she  breathed.  "  The  matter 
must  stand  exactly  as  it  is.  Miss  Bessire 
will  do  the  part  most  cleverly,  I  am  sure, 
and  I  '11  help  her  in  every  way  possible. 
Perhaps  at  night,  when  it 's  quite  dark 
in  the  room,  I  can  go  in  safely  and  care 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


for  your  aunt.  I  shall  love  to  do  it  if  I 
may.  You  see,  it  is  settled:  instead  of 
one  Bella  there  will  be  two !  " 

"  You  are  most  kind,"  said  Langstaff, 
with  a  good  deal  of  embarrassment,  ' '  but 
I  'm  afraid —  " 

"Don't  say  another  word,"  commanded 
she.  "It  is  arranged,  isn't  it,  Miss 
Bessire  ?  " 

Langs taff  turned  to  David  Bessire.  "  I  'm 
afraid  the  arrangement  will  not  suit  you, 
sir.  It 's  such  a  confounded  lot  to  ask 
of  a  stranger." 

' '  Davie  and  I  are  glad  to  be  of  any 
help.  Believe  that.  I  had  no  notion  of 
conveying  the  slightest  unwillingness  on 
her  part  or  my  own.  We  '11  stay,  and  be 
glad.  You  can  tuck  me  away  somewhere, 
can't  you  ?  A  tent  will  do,  if  you  haven't 
an  extra  room." 

"We've  plenty  of  room,  and  I'm  no 
end  obliged  to  you.  I  hope  the  real 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


Bella  will  be  here  soon.  She  happens 
to  be  spending  the  summer  in  the  state, 
and  I  shall  wire  her  at  once.  Then 
everything  will  be  all  right,"  he  declared. 

"Magic  Bella,"  murmured  Genevra 
Tellant, 

Langstaff  flushed  slightly. 

' '  If  you  '11  tell  Yim  what  you  require 
he  will  bring  your  bags  up  for  you  before 
evening,"  he  said. 

"Thanks,"  said  David  Bessire.  "We'd 
like  the  Brindleys  to  know  what  had 
happened  to  us,  otherwise  they  would  be 
expecting  us  home." 

"If  you  don't  mind,  Gavin,  I  think 
I  won't  come  up  to  stay  until  some  time 
to-morrow,"  said  Mrs.  Tellant.  "  I  have 
several  things  demanding  my  attention, 
but  you  may  count  on  me  then.  Shall 
you  be  able  to  get  on  without  me,  Miss 
Bessire  ?  " 

"Indeed  yes!  Don't  hurry  on  my 
[75] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


account.  You  really  won't  be  able  to  do 
much  to  help.  She's  so  keen,"  said 
Davie,  sauntering  over  to  the  corner  of 
the  porch  where  her  grandfather  followed, 
leaving  Langstaff  and  Mrs.  Tellant  to 
speak  together  a  moment. 

Genevra  Tellant' s  gaze  followed  the 
girl. 

"How  naive  1  she  murmured.  "So 
simple  I  So  sweet !  She  makes  me  think 
of  a  garden  pool  bordered  with  geraniums 
and  daisies." 

"She's  a  tremendously  good  sort," 
said  he.  "They  both  are." 

Her  nod  was  absent.  Her  expression 
changed.  She  was  looking  up  into  his 
face,  and  her  voice  flowed  with  caressing 
inflections.  The  words  were  indistin- 
guishable from  the  corner  of  the  porch 
where  the  Bessires  stood,  but  their  pretty 
staccato  pattered  oddly. 

Davie  Bessire  cocked  her  head,  listening. 

[76] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"  She  's  talking  baby  talk  to  him,"  she 
exclaimed  in  disgust.  "You'll  muzzle 
me  if  I  ever  do  that,  won't  you?  " 

"I  will,   my  dear.       You  may  depend 
upon  it." 
.  "  Do  men  like  it  ?  "  she  asked. 

"A  man,"  said  he,  "  is  fed  on  many 
foods." 

"Oh,  Lordy!"  groaned  she,  inele- 
gantly. 


[77] 


CHAPTER   FIVE 


'  To  alter  for  the  better  is  no  shame  " 


CHAPTER  FIVE 

1  HE  next  morning  Benjamin  Gockran, 
bolting  his  breakfast  to  his  own  disgust, 
—  there  was  much  of  the  leisurely  epicu- 
rean in  him,  —  dashed  out  to  catch  the 
cog,  a  message  in  one  hand  and  a  couple 
of  damson  plums  in  the  other. 

"  All  right!"  he  shouted  back  to  Lang- 
staff,  who  anxiously  regarded  him  as  he 
swung  aboard. 

At  Minnehaha  Falls  Mrs.  Tellant  got  on 
and  with  a  word  of  greeting  took  the  seat 
beside  him,  inquiring  anxiously  as  to  Miss 
Langstaff  and  the  entire  Skyland  house- 
hold. Her  manner  was  much  more  gra- 
cious than  it  had  been  the  day  before,  so 
much  more  so,  indeed,  that  he  had  the 
uncomfortable  suspicion  it  had  been  put 
on,  like  her  bright  color,  for  the  occasion. 

6  8l 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


The  native  candor  in  Cockran  demanded 
primitive  honesty  in  others. 

Deception  in  men  and  artificiality  in 
women  offended  him  equally,  and  if  he 
had  been  certain  that  the  rose  in  Genevra 
Tellant's  cheek  had  not  been  put  there  by 
nature  he  would  have  excused  himself  and 
found  another  seat.  But  he  gave  the  rose 
the  benefit  of  a  kindly  doubt  and  sat  still. 

Her  complexities  and  subtleties  bewil- 
dered him  and  made  him  fussy  and  ner- 
vous. When  she  talked,  throwing  off 
scintillating  generalities  as  an  emery  wheel 
scatters  sparks,  he  looked  out  of  the  win- 
dow, nodding  vaguely  and  wondering 
what  the  deuce  she  really  meant. 

' '  Have  you  many  errands  at  the 
Springs?"  she  inquired  after  a  while.  "  I 
remember  that  Mr.  Langstaff  said  last 
night  there  were  several  things  he  wished 
you  to  attend  to  for  him.  Among  them  I 
think  he  mentioned  the  sending  of  a  mes- 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


sage  to  Miss  Kaye.  I  am  going  to  the 
telegraph  office  on  my  own  account  and 
if  it  would  be  of  the  least  help  to  you  I 
should  be  delighted  to  attend  to  that  for 
you." 

" ' '  Would  you  ?  "  he  cried  in  relief.  ' '  I 
am  a  little  hurried,  to  tell  the  truth.  I'm 
going  to  look  after  a  grocery  order  for 
Gavin,  and  one  ought  to  have  plenty  of 
time  about  a  thing  like  that,  you  know.  I 
don't  like  to  be  rushed,  or  to  have  other 
matters  on  my  mind.  Many  of  the  things 
are  canned,  and  you  can't  be  too  particu- 
lar about  getting  the  right  canned  goods. 
I'm  acquainted  with  all  the  best  brands, 
and  I  want  to  see  that  he  gets  'em.  He 
isn't  any  too  particular  about  such  things 
himself,  I've  noticed — doesn't  realize  the 
importance  of  it,  I  suppose.  But  there's 
everything  in  knowing  the  right  kind  and 
in  getting  it.  For  instance,  I  wonder  if 
you  happen  to  know  how  very  much  su- 
[83] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


perior  to  all  others  is  the  Flake  of  Snow 
brand  of  codfish  ?  No  !  Is  it  possible  ? 
I  grant  that  it  is  n't  widely  advertised,  but 
advertisement  does  n't  make  quality.  Not 
one  person  in  a  hundred  goes  into  this 
subject  exhaustively  enough.  Yet  what 
could  be  more  important  ?  I  have  given 
my  best  thought  to  the  study  of  foods,  and 
I  think  I  may  be  considered  somewhat  of 
an  authority  in  the  matter." 

"  I  should  think  so  indeed,"  murmured 
she  with  a  mental  yawn. 

' '  I  hope  to  be  a  great  assistance  to  my 
wife  —  if  I  ever  have  one  —  in  the  mat- 
ter of  our  table,"  he  declared.  ' '  Too  few 
men  are  any  assistance  in  such  matters." 

' '  Will  your  first  requirement  of  the 
lady  be  that  she  understand  the  science  of 
cookery  ?  "  she  suggested,  too  bored  to  be 
amused,  but  not  daring  to  offend  him. 

"My  first  requirement,"  said  he,  with 
emphasis,  ' '  will  be  her  absolute  and  un- 
[84] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


deviating  honesty.  Why,  on  my  word, 
here  we  are  at  Manitou !  What  a  pleas- 
ant conversation  we  were  just  beginning 
to  have !  You  are  sure  you  don't  mind 
seeing  to  that  message?  Thanks,  very 
much.  I  'm  going  to  stop  over  a  car  and 
get  a  drink  of  the  Iron  Springs  water. 
Will  you  join  me  ?  I  consider  it  a  duty 
I  owe  my  blood." 

"  Thank  you,  no.  Mine  does  very  well 
as  it  is,"  said  she. 

"  Then  let  me  put  you  on  the  car." 

He  walked  briskly  beside  her  across  the 
station  platform  to  where  the  electric  car 
was  waiting.  ' '  The  address — Miss  Kaye's, 
— is  inside  the  envelope  with  the  message. 
They're  both  plain.  I  don't  think  you'll 
have  any  trouble,"  he  said,  as  he  put  the 
envelope  into  her  hands. 

"  I  '11  attend  to  it  at  once,"  said  she, 
and  smiled  as  the  car  slid  down  the  hill. 

"  Accommodating  of  her,  I  must  say," 
[85] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


he  murmured,  crossing  the  road  to  the 
Iron  Springs  pavilion,  where  an  orchestra 
was  playing  behind  the  flower  boxes  of  the 
upper  gallery,  and  where  polyglot  groups 
sat  about  inside  the  building  and  out  be- 
neath the  trellised  arbors,  listening  and 
drinking.  As  he  entered,  a  bevy  of  sturdy 
young  women  carrying  walking  sticks  and 
wearing  short  skirts  and  sombreros  and 
stout  boots  passed  him  ready  for  a  climb 
up  the  Peak.  Their  unadorned  attractive- 
ness quickly  sponged  off  his  mind,  as  it 
were,  the  slight  impression  which  Genevra 
Tellant's  artificiality  had  left. 

He  filled  his  pocket  cup  at  the  stone 
gargoyle  in  the  rocks  and  drank  slowly, 
while  the  pleasant  buzz  of  voices  rose 
above  him  and  a  rollicky  air  that  he  liked 
came  chuckling  down  from  the  balcony. 

Meanwhile  Mrs.  Tellant  had  tucked  the 
message  into  her  bag  after  carefully  perus- 
ing it. 

[86] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


Later  at  the  desk  at  the  telegraph  office 
she  re-read  it  attentively,  pausing  a  mo- 
ment afterward  in  deep  thought. 

It  read  :  ' '  Aunt  Marianna  ill  here.  Dis- 
posed as  usual  to  disregard  the  doctor's 
don't.  Gome." 

She  took  up  the  pen,  her  eyes  curiously 
alight,  and  after  changing  a  period  and  a 
capital  in  the  message,  she  pushed  it  across 
the  counter  to  the  polite  young  clerk  who 
waited  to  take  it. 

A  half  hour  afterward  she  ran  into 
Gockran  at  a  crowded  street  corner,  just 
as  he  was  stepping  off  a  Manitou  car. 

"  The  telegram  has  gone  to  Bella,"  said 
she,  reassuringly. 

"Good!  Many  thanks.  It's  a  relief 
to  know  I  may  take  all  the  time  I  need 
with  that  order.  By  the  way,  do  you 
like  sphaghetti  ?  You  see  I  must  consider 
your  taste,  since  you  are  to  be  one  of  us 
for  a  while.  You  do?  That's  good. 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


Sphaghetti  awash  with  pleasant  sauces,  of 
course.  Well,  good-by,  and  thank  you 
once  more." 

Mrs.  Tellant  picked  her  way  across  the 
street. 

"That 's  one  sort  of  a  man,"  she  said  to 
herself  with  a  scornful  little  smile. 


[88] 


CHAPTER   SIX 


' '  They  also  serve  who  only  stand  and  wait 


CHAPTER  SIX 

"  A.ND  can  we  be  of  no  help  ?  " 

Mrs.  Brindley  asked  the  question  of 
David  Bessire  that  same  morning  in  her 
cool,  fragrant  living  room.  She  was  a 
tall,  pretty  young  woman,  and  as  she 
stood,  her  baby  on  her  hip,  she  made  a 
much  more  charming  picture  of  a  mother 
and  child  than  any  Madonna  he  knew,  he 
told  himself  enthusiastically. 

Brindley  stood  beside  his  wife.  He 
lacked  an  inch  or  two  of  being  as  tall  as 
she.  If  he  had  carried  himself  with  more 
care  and  dignity  he  might  have  appeared 
at  least  as  tall.  This  had  been  suggested 
to  him,  but  although  he  desired  nothing 
so  fervently  as  added  inches,  it  had  no 
perceptible  effect  upon  his  carriage  or  his 
conduct.  He  had  a  square,  protruding 
[9-] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


chin,  but  you  did  not  hold  it  against  him 
when  you  saw  his  eyes  with  their  good- 
humor  and  their  immense  kindliness. 

"  Nothing  at  all,"  said  David  Bessire. 
1 '  All  we  can  do  is  to  humor  the  old  lady 
and  wait  for  Bella.  She  's  staying  with 
friends  in  Greeley,  and  she  ought  to  reach 
here  to-night." 

Bessire  was  polishing  his  glasses  with  a 
cream-colored  silk  handkerchief.  He  re- 
garded them  critically,  and  spoke  with- 
out looking  up:  "  Queer  situation  all 
round,  is  n't  it  ?  Langstaff  does  n't  strike 
you  as  the  sort  of  man  who  'd  let  a  woman 
map  out  his  life  for  him.  But  I  dare  say, 
in  spite  of  his  having  deferred  the  mar- 
riage so  long,  he  must  be  fond  of  this 
Bella." 

"  Maybe  it 's  she  who  has  deferred  it," 
suggested  Mary  Brindley.  "  You  know 
how  long  it  takes  some  women  to  make 
up  their  minds." 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"  Does  it  though  ?  "  grinned  Brindley. 

"That's  not  worthy  of  you,  Tom," 
she  cried.  She  looked  very  thoughtful 
and  pretty  as  she  sat,  her  hands  clasping 
her  knees.  She  wore  a  plain  percale 
gown  of  black  and  white,  as  crisp  and 
fresh  as  a  lettuce  leaf,  and  David  Bessire 
wondered  why  more  women  did  n't  wear 
gowns  like  it  instead  of  those  with  so 
many  frills  and  dragging  furbelows.  .  .  . 
"It  does  take  them  a  long,  long  time," 
she  mused,  "  and  afterward — they'd  give 
their  souls  to  get  back  the  lost  years." 

' '  You  see  what  she  thinks  of  matri- 
mony," commented  her  husband. 

"That's  neither  here  nor  there,"  put 
in  she,  with  a  wave  of  color  over  her 
girlish  cheeks .  ' '  What  I  want  to  know 
is  why  Mrs.  Tellant  thinks  she  is  needed 
up  there.  I  met  her  the  other  day  at  the 
Inn  and  I  don't  like  her." 

"  Gome,    come,    don't   be    so   severe," 

[93] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


said  Brindley,  who  was  the  most  chari- 
table soul  on  earth,  "she's  all  right. 
She  does  some  ungodly  thing  to  her  hair, 
I'll  wager,  but  that  doesn't  convert  her 
into  a  whited  sepulcher,  does  it  ?" 

"Just  the  same,  I  wouldn't  trust  her. 
She  's  insincere,  and  she  would  intrigue. 
Ydu  '11  see.  I  've  a  prophetic  intuition 
that  she  '11  make  mischief." 

David  Bessire  swung  his  glasses  on  a 
delicate  forefinger. 

"  I  don't  care  for  her  myself,"  said  he, 
quietly.  "  She  is  a  sentimental  debau- 
chee, or  I  'm  altogether  mistaken." 

"  '  Cure  the  drunkard,  heal  the  insane, 
mollify  the  homicide,  civilize  the  Pawnee, 
but  what  lessons  can  be  devised  for  the 
debauchee  of  sentiment  ?'"  quoted  Brind- 
ley, lightly.  "I  say,  but  you  and  Mary 
are  hard  on  her.  She  knows  how  to 
make  the  best  of  her  artifices,  and  she 
keeps  a  keen  weather  eye  out  for  her  ad- 

[94] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


vantages.  But  what  of  that  ?  She  knows 
Langstaff  is  engaged  to  Miss  Kaye,  and  she 
can't  have  any  designs  on  him.  As  for 
you  and  Gockran,  you're  safe  enough, 
aren't  you?  " 

David  Bessire  sat  screwed  up  in  his 
chair,  his  face  like  a  leaf  that  rain  and 
wind  have  beaten  till  it  is  only  fiber  and 
veins.  Prophetic  intuitions  like  Mrs. 
Brindley's  were  out  of  his  line  altogether, 
but  he  knew  a  designing  woman  when  he 
saw  her. 

"What  a  goose  you  are,  Tom,"  cried 
Mary  Brindley,  in  exasperation.  "  Don't 
you  know  anything  of  the  audacity  of 
feminine  trespass  ?  Do  you  suppose  she  'd 
scruple  to  go  in  for  Gavin  if  she  really 
wanted  him  ?  And  I  tell  you  he  is  n't  to 
be  scoffed  at,  with  his  position  and  his 
prospects." 

Thomas  Brindley  laughed  in  sheer 
good-natured  amusement. 

[95] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"Quit  worrying  about  that  part  of  it. 
Langstaff's  perfectly  able  to  look  after 
himself.  You  can't  pitch  the  lady  over  a 
cliff,  can  you?  Accept  her,  and  let  her 
alone.  You've  got  enough  to  do  to  back 
up  Davie  in  her  role.  You're  going  to 
stay  down  with  us  for  lunch,  are  n't  you?" 
he  asked  of  Bessire. 

"No,  thank  you.  I  only  came  down 
to  give  you  a  more  intimate  notion  of  the 
state  of  affairs  up  there.  Davie  wanted 
you  to  know.  She  had  a  fair  night, 
though  Miss  Langstaff  did  n't  sleep  much. 
We  're  getting  along  all  right  so  far.  It 
would  be  easier  for  me  if  anyone  had 
sufficient  invention  to  think  of  an  excuse 
for  my  presence  there.  As  it  is  I'm  rele- 
gated to  the  background,  and  I  don't 
fancy  that  altogether.  I  can't  sail  under 
the  Kaye  colors,  for  Miss  Langstaff  knows 
the  whole  relationship.  But  I  manage 
very  well,  by  keeping  my  wits  and  talking 

[96] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


under  my  breath."  He  took  up  his  hat — 
it  was  a  panama,  almost  the  shade  of  his 
flannel  suit.  His  tie  was  a  rich  brown, 
the  exact  color  of  his  twinkling  eyes,  and 
of -the  kind  affected  by  artists  and  musi- 
cians. Above  his  cream-colored  canvas 
shoes  his  silk-clad  ankles  showed  the  exact 
shade  of  the  tie.  And  as  he  marched  up 
the  trail,  erect  and  dapper  for  all  his  sixty 
and  more  years,  the  Brindleys  looked 
after  him  fondly. 

"  He  is  shaded  just  like  a  meerschaum 
pipe,"  chuckled  Mrs.  Brindley.  "Bless 
him  1  " 

The  bungalow  was  a  peaceful  spot  as 
David  Bessire  approached  it.  The  red 
hammock  with  its  worn  fringes  swayed 
emptily  on  the  upper  porch.  The  striped 
chairs  yawned.  Langstaff's  big  flag  shook 
itself  jauntily  in  the  face  of  the  clouds. 
Kam  Yim  smoked  his  pipe  in  the  pines  at 
7  [97] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


the  side  of  the  house,  and  on  the  lower 
porch  Davie  lay  in  a  big  chair  talking  with 
Langstaff. 

"  Stay  with  us,"  she  said,  as  he  climbed 
up  to  them.  ' '  Miss  Langstaff  is  asleep  and 
we  're  having  a  little  visit." 

"  I  '11  go  up  and  read  my  letters  and 
have  a  game  of  solitaire,"  said  he,  "  and 
if  the  patient  wakes,  I  '11  call  you." 

He  chose  a  corner  within  sound,  but 
out  of  sight  of  her  door,  adjusted  an  awn- 
ing, found  the  most  comfortable  chair  on 
the  porch  and  carrying  it  over,  settled  in 
it.  He  took  out  his  mail,  which  Brindley 
had  brought  up  from  the  Springs  for  him, 
drew  from  his  pocket  a  small  ivory  letter 
opener  and  inserted  it  in  the  flap  of  the 
first  letter. 

But  the  Skyland  and  its  affairs  still 
held  his  interest,  keeping  him  for  the 
moment  from  the  world  beyond  the  crests 
and  canon,  the  buttes  and  plains,  and  he 

[98] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


sat,  the  unopened  letter  in  his  hands,  his 
brows  tightly  knotted  : 

"She's  a  mischief-maker,"  said  he 
with  conviction.  "We  '11  just  keep  an  eye 
on  her." 

"Tell  me  more  about  Bella,"  Davie 
was  saying  to  Langstaff,  leaning  toward 
him  out  of  the  steamer  chair,  a  vivid  little 
figure. 

He  pulled  off*  a  leaf  from  the  stubby 
oak  tree  which  pressed  its  branches  close 
to  the  porch  rail  and  smoothed  it  over  his 
finger. 

"It's  difficult  to  describe  anyone  that 
you  know  as  well  as  I  know  her,"  he 
said. 

' '  Have  n't  you  a  picture  of  her  ?  It 
would  make  it  so  much  easier  for  me  if  I 
had  a  definite  idea  of  her.  Besides,  I 
don't  mind  admitting  that  I  'm  curious." 

"  Why,   I  ought  to  have  one.     Wait, 

[99] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


and  I'll  see;"  and  he  ran  upstairs  and 
rummaged  recklessly  through  drawers  and 
trunks,  only  to  return  in  some  embarrass- 
ment without  it. 

"Can't  put  my  hands  on  it.  Things 
have  such  an  annoying  way  of  getting 
somewhere  else  up  here,"  he  apologized. 

She  nodded,  a  queer  little  look  of  ques- 
tioning in  her  eyes.  Then  she  lay  back 
in  her  chair  watching  a  long-bodied  bird 
that  flew  out  from  the  rocks  high  above 
and,  circling,  swept  off  into  space. 

"  Do  you  know,  I  'm  really  very  much 
obliged  to  you  for  letting  me  have  the 
opportunity  of  knowing  your  Aunt  Mari- 
anna, "  said  she.  ' '  She 's  splendid.  She  '11 
make  an  abject  slave  of  me  if  Bella  doesn't 
come  soon.  The  way  she  tries  the  edge 
of  her  humor  on  things  is  great.  It  fairly 
fascinates  me.  She  whittles  pretty  deep 
sometimes,  you  know,  but  she  never  muti- 
lates. .  .  .  And  then  1  'm  obliged  to  you 
[100] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


for  the  side  lights,"  she  continued,  as  one 
who,  actuated  by  the  spirit  of  daring, 
ventures  upon  insecure  footing. 

"  Side  lights?  "  he  repeated. 

She  nodded.  "  On  your  ship  of  love, 
when  she  sails  by  night.  This  is  sailing 
pretty  much  in  the  dark,  is  n't  it?  But 
she'll  weather  the  seas  all  right,  I'll 
wager;  "  and  she  smiled  mischievously. 
It  was  curious  to  find  oneself  upon  such 
easy  terms  with  a  man  who  had  yesterday 
been  a  complete  stranger. 

However,  she  wisely  forbore  to  go 
deeper  into  the  subject. 

"My!  I  like  your  mountains,"  said  she. 
' '  I  like  any  outdoors,  don't  you  ?  I  've 
no  patience  with  lives  that  are  voluntarily 
spent  behind  lace  curtains  and  frosted 
office  windows.  Think  of  the  people 
who  have  forgotten  —  if  they  ever  knew 
—  how  beefsteak  tastes  when  it's  broiled 
in  the  open !  I  'd  rather  forget  my 

[101] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


prayers  occasionally  than  to  forget  that. 
It  would  n't  endanger  my  soul  half  so 
much." 

"  Good  for  you!  "  he  cried  enthusiasti- 
cally. 

"It  is  n't  that  people  really  don't  care 
for  such  thinks,  is  it,  but  that  they  let 
themselves  get  flabby  —  muscles  and  en- 
thusiasm alike.  Why,  look  at  the  Jap; 
he  '11  walk  a  hundred  miles  to  get  to  a 
cherry  orchard  on  a  festal  day  !  .  .  .  But 
dear  me,  how  far  we  've  got  from  Bella. 
Tell  me  more  about  her  and  her  family. 
I  ought  to  know,  you  see,  so  I  can  talk 
intelligently  when  it's  expected  of  me. 
What  is  my  mother  like?" 

' '  Very  domestic  —  a  perfect  '  hearth- 
woman.'  ' 

' '  Are  you  —  er  —  properly  fond  of 
her?" 

"Yes,  I'm  on  the  best  of  terms  with 
her." 

[102] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"That's  right.  You  'd  have  to  be,  I 
can  tell  you,  if  I  were  really  Bella,  and 
she  were  really  my  mother." 

«/  </ 

"  If  you  had  been  Bella —  "  he  broke 
off  absently.  He  was  thinking  what  a 
fine  thing  it  would  have  been  had  she 
been  Bella. 

' '  When  do  you  expect  her?  "  she  asked. 
"Not  that  I  'm  anxious  for  her  to  arrive. 
Goodness  knows  I  'm  having  a  fine  time 
just  as  it  is.  I  '11  be  frightfully  jealous 
when  I  have  to  give  your  aunt  over  to 
her.  We  've  hit  it  off  astonishingly,  she 
and  I." 

"  She  tells  me  frankly  that  she  adores 
you.  I'm  afraid  you  are  doing  rather  a 
glorified  edition  of  Bella,  are  n't  you?" 

' '  Well,  why  should  n't  I  ?  You  ideal- 
ize her,  don't  you  ?"  she  laughed. 

She  lay  in  the  chair,  her  face  turned 
toward  him.  Her  spontaneity  and  fresh- 
ness delighted  him.  He  had  known  from 
[io3] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


the  first  that  he  would  like  her, —  what 
astonished  him  was  that  in  so  short  a  time 
he  should  like  her  so  well.  Even  in  the 
stress  of  the  last  twelve  hours  she  had 
revealed  many  things  to  him. 

To  see  her  at  the  head  of  his  breakfast 
table  had  given  him  a  distinct  shock  of 
pleasure.  Some  men  are  rarely  able  to 
disassociate  marriage  from  the  morning 
meal,  but  through  all  his  quasi-engage- 
ment  to  Bella  he  had  never  visually  real- 
ized her  pouring  his  morning  coffee.  So 
that,  knowing  only  a  boarding  house  and 
hotel  existence  as  he  did,  he  had  no  idea 
how  fetching  a  girl  could  look  doing  it, 
especially  when  she  wore  such  crisp,  fresh 
things  as  Davie  wore.  Neither  had  he 
the  least  idea  what  a  jolly  affair  a  mere 
breakfast  could  be,  even  though  the  sky 
was  unpromising  and  the  peaks  frowned 
and  the  canons  belched  a  raw,  ugly  wind. 
The  pine  boughs  had  crackled  in  the  fire- 
[Mt] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


place,  the  jays  chattered  in  the  bushes 
outside  the  windows,  Kim  s  breakfast 
was  delicious,  and  everything  seemed  just 
right.  Yet  it  was,  he  knew,  the  high 
priestess  of  the  homely  ceremony  who  gave 
it  its  charm. 

He  found  himself  looking  forward  to 
the  next  morning  when  Davie  should 
descend  upon  them  in  her  pretty  girlish- 
ness  to  assume  the  dignity  requisite  with 
the  coffee  urn. 

Then  a  most  disconcerting  thought 
entered  :  Genevra  Tellant  would  be  here ! 

But  Bella's  coming  would  be  the  solu- 
tion of  the  whole  matter.  He  was  as 
firmly  bound  to  Bella  as  she  had  been  to 
Tellant  in  those  brief  and  foolish  days. 
He  could  depend  on  Bella.  He  smiled, 
realizing  how  squarely  she  would  meet 
the  other  woman's  challenge. 

But  —  if  Bella  should  not  come  ?j^  The 
thought  brought  him  up  standing/  Was 
[io5] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


he  counting  without  his  host?  Perhaps 
Bella  might  not  choose  to  respond  to  his 
long-delayed  summons.  What  then? 
Theirs  had  been  a  nondescript  sort  of 
understanding  which  could  scarcely  be 
called  an  engagement.  Merely  they  had 
from  infancy  had  the  fact  instilled  into  them 
that  they  were  born  for  each  other,  and 
neither  of  them  happening  to  care  for  any 
one  else,  and  the  day  of  the  marriage  being 
so  far  removed,  they  had  amiably  acquiesced 
to  the  plan  proposed  for  their  happiness. 
Business  had  taken  him  back  but  infre- 
quently to  the  little  home  town  in  the  mid- 
dle states  where  she  lived,  and  they  had 
seen  each  other  only  a  few  times  in  the 
last  half-dozen  years.  But  they  had  never 
failed  to  understand  each  other.  Exactly  as 
he  had  postponed  Bella,  so  had  Bella  post- 
poned  him,  and  the  knowledge  had  kept 
him  from  having  any  conscience  in  the 
matter,  while  his  half-humorous  convio 
[106] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


tion  of  her  loyalty  had  made  him  faithful 
to  the  peculiar  relationship  between  them 
—  except  for  that  one  brief  lapse  in  the 
case  of  Mrs.  Tellant. 

Yet  what  if  Bella  had  resented  his 
obvious  indifference,  after  all  ?  His  alarm 
increased  at  the  suggestion,  which  had 
really  never  occurred  to  him  before. 

He  needed  Bella.  Lord,  lord  I  how  he 
needed  her !  What  could  he  do  without 
her  ?  To  go  on  deceiving  his  aunt  with  a 
trumped-up  Bella,  no  matter  if  she  were 
as  clever  as  Davie,  would  soon  be  im- 
possible, for  her  sight  would  return  with 
her  strength.  And  if  she  once  found  out 
the  state  of  affairs  it  would  jeopardize  not 
only  his  material  interests  but  her  com- 
plete convalescence.  He  knew  how  she 
bore  shocks,  and  he  groaned  inwardly. 
Why  had  n't  he  married  Bella  when  he 
ought  ?  Why  the  deuce  had  he  let  it 
come  to  such  a  point  as  this? 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"  Oh,  come,  come,  cheer  up,"  laughed 
DavieBessire,  as  if  she  read  his  lugubrious 
thoughts.  "  To-morrow  your  Bella  will 
be  here  and  everything  will  be  well  with 
you.  You  '11  be  laughing  together  over 
the  whole  business.  Gome  along  with  me 
now  to  your  aunt.  You  look  as  if  you 
needed  her  enlivening  influence." 

He  ran  up  the  stairs  after  her,  to  find 
Miss  Langstaff  looking  very  comfortable 
indeed.  All  traces  of  masculinity  had  been 
removed  from  the  room,  which  was 
darkened  to  almost  the  blackness  of  even- 
ing. A  bough  of  waxy  oak  leaves  stood 
in  a  Satsuma  vase  at  the  head  of  her  bed, 
and  in  her  stiff  white  satin  kimono  with 
dragons  wriggling  over  it  she  looked  as  if 
she  might  have  come  from  Kam  Yim's 
land. 

She  put  out  a  hand  to  Davie  and  one  to 
Langstaff  as  they  came  in  laughing  to- 
gether, and  with  a  touch  of  sentimental- 
[108] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


ity  joined  their  hands  and  held  them  so  for 
a  second,  quoting  a  bit  of  an  old  poem. 

Recalling  the  poem  reminded  her  of  how 
beautifully  Bella  had  used  to  read  the 
German  classics.  Wouldn't  she  read  to 
her  now  ?  In  her  traveling  bag  beneath 
her  black  silk  short  kimono  there  was  a 
copy  of  Schiller  from  which  she  was  never 
parted.  If  Gavin  would  get  it  she  was 
sure  Bella  would  humor  her. 

Flushing  from  the  touching  scene  of 
family  amity  through  which  she  had  just 
passed,  but  more  so  from  the  knowledge 
of  the  mess  she  would  make  of  the  German, 
Davie  shot  Langstaff  an  imploring  glance, 
but  he  was  already  buried  in  the  closet. 

"  Really,  Gavin,  I  'm  going  to  be  quite 
hopelessly  spoiled  by  this  dear  child,"  said 
Miss  Langstaff,  fondly  patting  Davie's 
hand.  "  She  waits  on  me  hand  and  foot. 
You  '11  be  wanting  me  out  of  the  house  if 
I  continue  to  keep  her  so  much  away  from 
[  I09  ] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


you.  She  might  have  hours  a  day  more 
with  you  if  she  would  only  take  them.  It 
distresses  me  that  she  insists  upon  staying 
by  me  so  closely.  It  isn't  fair  to  either 
of  you.  And  then  she  loses  so  much  rest. 
Did  she  sleep  well  after  I  sent  her  in  to 
you  at  midnight  ?  " 

Somehow  the  agonized  moment  passed. 
Langs tafFs  head  fairly  swam  with  em- 
barrassment. He  gulped  out  something 
unintelligible,  and  Davie  buried  herself  in 
the  diabolical  pages  which  awaited  her, 
while  Miss  Marianna,  beaming  affection, 
settled  luxuriously  among  the  pillows  to 
await  the  reading. 

"Begin  at  the  first,  Bella,  dear,"  said 
she,  and  quoted  softly : 

"  Es  lachelt  der  See,  er  ladet  zum  Bade, 
Der  Knabe  schlief  ein  am  griinen  Gestade." 

Davie  threw  another  glance  of  appeal  at 
Langstaff.      The   whirlpool  of  embarrass- 
[HO] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


ment  just  passed  was  a  less  dreadful 
thing  than  the  Teutonic  reefs  which  now 
threatened  her.  High  school  Latin  and 
seminary  German  marked  the  boundaries 
of  •  her  linguistic  attainments,  and  she 
recalled  most  poignantly  with  what  unfail- 
ing regularity  her  work  in  the  latter  had 
been  labeled  P. 

Langs taff  saw  her  danger,  his  danger, 
and  tried  desperately  to  avert  it. 

"  Yim  wanted  you  awhile  ago,  Bella," 
said  he.  "It  was  something  about  lunch, 
I  think.  I  forgot  to  tell  you.  Perhaps 
you'd  better  see  him  before  you  begin." 

"  To  be  sure,"  said  Davie,  springing  up. 

"Sit  down,"  commanded  Miss  Lang- 
staff.  "You  spoil  that  celestial  terribly. 
As  if  he  could  n't  prepare  a  simple  meal 
for  the  three  of  us  without  your  advice." 

With  a  look  of  utter  helplessness  poor 
Davie    sank    down    again,    fluttering    the 
leaves  of  the  awful  book.     In  the  panic  of 
[HI] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


the  moment  she  could  have  as  easily  read 
Chinese  as  the  almost  forgotten  lines  before 
her. 

Langstaff  looked  across  at  her  in  equal 
helplessness.  It  was  a  crisis  which  neither 
of  them  underestimated. 

"Well,  aren't  we  ready?"  queried 
Miss  Marianna. 

Davie  lifted  the  volume  and  moistened 
her  lips,  — all  the  blood  in  her  body 
seemed  to  be  beating  in  them. 

"  Es — lachelt  —  der  See  —  "she  floun- 
dered, "  er  —  ladet —  " 

At  just  that  instant  there  was  a  crash 
which  shook  the  cottage  to  its  foundation 
of  cedar  props. 

"  What  is  it?  Oh,  what  is  it?  "  cried 
Miss  Langstaff  in  the  greatest  alarm. 

Langstaff  and  Davie  rushed  to  the  door. 

' '  I  don't  know  what  it  can  be,  but  thank 
God  for  it  1  "  he  whispered  profoundly. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  lower  stairs  Ben- 
[us] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


jamin  Cockran  was  getting  slowly  and 
stiffly  to  his  feet.  About  him  was  a  veri- 
table riot  of  the  things  he  loved  so  well,  — 
vegetables  and  meats,  breads,  pastry  and 
pickles,  canned  things  and  bottled  things. 
A  bag  of  water  cress  had  slit  and  adorned 
his  neck  like  the  garnish  on  the  neck  of  a 
big  Christmas  bird,  while  a  broken  egg 
painted  a  sunrise  on  the  toe  of  his  boot. 

Davie  Bessire  leaned  against  the  upper 
newel  post  and  laughed  smotheredly. 

"  Providence  disguised  in  green  stuff!  " 
she  gurgled. 

Langstaff  repressed  his  mirth  and  ran 
down  to  his  prostrated  guest. 

"Good  Lord,  Ben,  how 'd  you  do  it? 
What  were  you  up  to  anyway  ?  Are  you 
hurt  ?  " 

' '  Do  you  think  anything  could  hurt  me 
after  that?  "  said  Benjamin  Gockran,  tragi- 
cally, drawing  from  beneath  the  wreckage 
a  once  beautiful  but  now  quite  flattened 

8  [n3] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


marshmallow  cake  upon  which  he  had 
squarely  sat.  "  It 's  what  I  get  for  trying 
to  make  a  porter  of  myself.  The  box 
came  up  with  me  on  the  cog  and  I  could  n't 
make  Yim  hear,  so  I  carried  it  in  myself. 
I  did  n't  want  it  to  sit  there  stewing  in  the 
sun." 

Dazedly  he  surveyed  the  ruin. 

"  Gall  the  Chink,"  he  said  tonelessly. 


CHAPTER   SEVEN 


"  And  my  people  ask  politely 
How  a  friend  I  know  so  slightly 
flan  be  more  to  me  than  others  I  have  liked 
a  year  or  so, 

' '  But  they  've  never  known  the  history 
Of  our  transmigration's  mystery, 
And  they  've    no    idea    I    loved  you    those, 
millenniums  ago." 


CHAPTER   SEVEN 

GENEYRA  TELL  ANT  lay  in  one  of  the 

porch  chairs  looking  up  at  Langstaff  as  he 
stood  by  the  rail.  Over  in  a  far  corner  of 
the  porch  Gockran  puffed  away  on  his  old 
pipe,  but  otherwise  the  household  had 
withdrawn. 

Mrs.  Tellant  had  come  up  from  the 
Springs  on  a  later  cog  than  the  one  which 
brought  Gockran  and  the  ill-fated  box. 
She  was  in  the  best  of  spirits,  and  finding 
her  plate  laid  at  the  head  of  the  table  and 
Davie  absent  from  the  meal,  she  had 
promptly  risen  to  the  occasion,  charming 
even  David  Bessire.  Now  as  she  lay,  the 
reflection  of  the  dinner  hour's  little  triumph 
in  her  eyes,  she  was  really  a  most  fascinat- 
ing woman. 

' '  Do  you  know  what  I  wanted  to  do 
["7] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


to-night?"  she  asked,  with  a  backward 
glance  toward  Gockran  to  see  that  their 
privacy  was  not  invaded .  "I  wanted  to 
drink  a  health  to  yesterday.  It  would 
have  been  both  toast  and  reminder.  For 
— you  have  forgotten.  Don't  deny  it.  I 
read  you  so  well,  and  I  'm  not  scolding 
you.  You  remember,  don't  you,  how  I 
always  preached  forgetfulness  to  you  ? 
It's  a  little  disconcerting,  however,  and 
rather  a  blow  to  one's  vanity  to  find  how 
easily  you  learned  your  lesson.  That's 
all."  She  sighed  softly.  "  This  won- 
derful, wonderful  Bella  1  Frankly,  I  'm 
wild  with  curiosity  to  see  her." 

Langstaff  played  nervously  with  a  branch 
of  wild  hop-vine  that  wound  the  porch 
column. 

' '  How  very  clever  she  must  be  to  have 

changed  you  so  !  "    she  went  on.      "  You 

will  let  me  tell  you  how  I  admire  her, 

won't  you?    But  —  for  making  those  brief 

[118] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


days  of  our  friendship  seem  so  utterly  gray 
and  colorless  to  you  now  —  " 

Her  face  was  lovely  in  the  moonlight, 
and  also  a  little  wishful.  She  threw  out 
her  hands  to  him  in  one  of  her  adorable 
gestures. 

"It's  in  me.  Can  I  help  it  that  I'm 
frightfully  jealous  of  your  Bella  ?" 

"  Oh,  come,  come,"  laughed  he,  fidget- 
ing with  the  hop-vine  tendril. 

' '  Just  what  is  her  magic,  Gavin  ?  "  she 
asked. 

Bella's  magic?  Good  little  common- 
sense,  practical,  tailor-made  Bella  ! 

She  misread  his  embarrassment. 

"  Never  mind,"  laughed  she,  "  I  '11  find 
it  out  myself,  if  you  are  too  modest  to  tell 
me.  Oh,  I  forgive  her  for  taking  you 
from  me,  but  how,  how  am  I  to  forgive 
you  for  having  forgotten  me  utterly?  A 
woman's  heart  is  a  potpourri  jar  filled 
with  the  petals  of  friendship,  but  a  man's  is 

["9] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


merely  a  wide-mouthed  receptacle,  yawn- 
ing, always  yawning,  and  always  empty, 
swept  bare  by  the  winds  of  every  leaf  and 
petal  that  ever  helped  temporarily  to  fill  it. " 

"You  are  hard  on  us,"  he  said,  but  he 
made  no  protest.  For  the  life  of  him  he 
couldn't.  There  is,  perhaps,  no  astonish- 
ment so  mighty  as  the  self-astonishment 
of  the  man  who,  having  emerged  from  an 
illusion,  looks  back  upon  it. 

The  brown  flecks  of  Mrs.  Tellant's  eyes 
covered  the  pupils,  her  lids  narrowed  and 
the  prettily  assumed  tone  of  reproach  held 
an  unnatural  note  of  constriction.  She 
arose  and  moved  to  the  corner  of  the 
porch,  the  softness  of  her  gown  emphasiz- 
ing the  grace  of  her  figure.  As  she  stood, 
one  arm  lifted  to  the  trellis,  the  moonlight 
back  of  her,  she  was  so  exquisite  that  he 
marveled  he  could  look  on  her  unmoved, 
yet  not  a  pulse  pounded  nor  an  inclination 
quickened. 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


He  went  analytically  into  the  change  in 
himself.  Why  did  she  leave  him  cold? 
Was  it  that  his  marriage  so  closely  ap- 
proached ?  It  seemed  improbable,  under 
the  circumstances,  that  the  anticipation  of 
his  benedicthood  should  render  any  less 
delightful  an  occasion  like  this.  Yet  what 
he  most  profoundly  wished  for  at  the  mo- 
ment was  that  something  would  happen  to 
end  the  scene :  /that  Gockran,  propped  back 
in  his  chair,  his  ponderous  feet  on  the  rail, 
should  lose  his  balance ;  that  Kam  Yim 
might  break  forth  in  a  blood-curdling 
tirade  against  the  invasion  of  mountain 
rats  in  his  kitchen ;  that  his  aunt  should 
require  him  ;  or  that  David  Bessire  should 
come  down  to  join  them,  — anything,  any- 
thing to  end  it  1 

Other  men  have  known  such  moments. 
It  is  one  of  the  penalties,  perhaps  the  su- 
preme one,  for  injudicious  love-making. 

Mrs.  Tellant  was  looking  at  him  stead- 
[Ml] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


ily   with   a    gravely    sweet    expression    in 
which  a  hint  of  amusement  lay. 

"  My  naughty  boy  turned  virtuous," 
she  murmured.  "It  is  beautiful  to  see." 

"  Oh,  by  Jove,  don't  rub  it  in  !  "  he 
exclaimed.  Then  flushing  at  his  lack  of 
control:  "  I  beg  your  pardon,  but  a  fellow 
does  n't  care  to  be  strung  up  like  a  flag 
on  a  pole  just  because  he  's  going  to  be 
married." 

A  faint  redness  revealed  itself  in  her 
cheeks,  lifting  to  the  smooth  brow.  She 
was  not  an  easy-tempered  woman.  Her 
choler  was  like  a  wind  which  rises  in  a 
breeze  and  sweeps  on  in  fiercer  and  fiercer 
gusts  until  it  has  become  a  hurricane. 

Just  as  it  was  getting  well  under  way, 
Davie  Bessire  came  downstairs. 

"I'm  sorry,"  said  she,  "but  your 
voices  reach  Miss  Langstaff,  and  she  won- 
ders what  woman  can  be  here.  I  've  put 
her  off"  by  telling  her  it  must  be  someone 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


passing  on  the  trail,  but  I  think  perhaps 
you'll  have  to  stop  talking  or  go  some- 
where else." 

' '  Quite  astonishing  ears  she  has,  has  n't 
she?"  observed  Genevra  Tellant,  signifi- 
cantly, her  glance  like  ice  on  the  girl's 
face. 

To  the  full  Davie  took  the  measure  of 
her  meaning.  Surprised  and  quite  un- 
prepared for  the  attack,  she  stood  for  just 
a  breath,  going  very  white  and  staring  at 
the  other  woman  wonderingly.  Then 
with  a  smile  that  would  have  spoken 
without  the  words,  she  said  quietly: 

"Not  so  astonishing,  it  seems  to  me, 
as  Mrs.  Tellant' s  suggestion."  And  she 
went  quickly  up  the  stairs. 

Mrs.  Tellant  moved  her  shoulders  in  a 
shrug  of  amusement. 

"  So  the  garden  pool  has  bees  in  its 
flower  borders,"  she  remarked  composedly. 
' '  I  feel  my  poor  self  quite  full  of  stingers." 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


She  yawned,  fluttering  a  bit  of  lace  before 
her  mouth.  Then  she  smiled  at  Langstaff, 
appending  it  tentatively,  as  it  were. 

His  face  was  crimson,  his  eyes  furious. 

"Well,  good-night,"  said  she,  lightly, 
giving  him  no  time  to  speak.  "I  think 
I  '11  go  to  bed.  I  do  hope  Miss  Bessire 
will  call  me  if  I  'm  needed.  That 's  what 
I  'm  staying  for,  you  know  —  to  help  you 
if  I  can.  .  .  .  Good-night,  Mr.  Gockran." 
Her  lifted  voice  was  musical,  without  a 
trace  of  anything  to  spoil  its  melody. 
' '  Are  you  quite  over  the  fall  yet  ?  I 
should  n't  feel  too  badly  about  the  wreck- 
age of  the  green  things  if  I  were  you. 
They  can  all  go  into  a  salad,  you  know." 

She  laughed,  waiting  at  the  foot  of  the 
lower  step,  one  hand  on  the  rail,  while 
Langstaff  lit  her  bedroom  candle.  As 
she  took  it  from  him,  raising  it  to  the 
level  of  her  face,  a  little  sigh  seemed  to 
breathe  from  her  lips  and  she  let  her 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


pleading    glance    strike    straight    into  his 
eyes. 

' '  Words  have  never  been  necessary  be- 
tween you  and  me,  have  they,  Gavin?" 
she  asked  simply,  holding  her  long  white 
gown  out  of  the  way  of  her  white-shod 
feet,  and  moving  slowly  up  the  stairs. 

"  Nor  between  you  and  me,"  muttered 
Benjamin  Cockran  with  a  grin  as  she  dis- 
appeared and  he  came  out  of  the  shadow 
yawning  :  "I  think  I  '11  go  to  bed  too. 
Good-night.  I  'm  sorry  for  you,  Lang- 
staff,  but  you  ought  to  have  known  bet- 

>  > 
ter. 

A  few  minutes  later  Langstaff  went  up 
the  stairs.  A  shaded  candle  burned  by 
his  aunt's  bed  and  Davie  Bessire  stood  at 
the  window  looking  out.  She  was  dressed 
as  she  had  been  except  that  her  gown  was 
turned  back  at  the  throat  and  wrists  and 
her  hair  was  done  in  a  big  soft  knot  un- 
like the  one  she  wore  it  in  by  day.  Her 
[,.5] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


hands  were  clasped  behind  her  and  there 
was  something  in  the  poise,  the  sturdy 
little  feet  rather  widely  planted,  the  shoul- 
ders squared,  that  was  almost  boyishly 
pugnacious. 

He  crossed  the  room  softly  without  her 
having  heard  him. 

"Come  out  a  minute.  I  must  speak 
with  you,"  he  whispered. 

She  turned  with  a  start,  then  after  a 
glance  at  his  aunt  who  slept  soundly,  went 
with  him  into  the  hall. 

"  I  know  what  you  want.  But  let  's 
not  talk  about  it.  I  don't  blame  you," 
she  said  at  once. 

' '  I  can't  tell  you  how  it  humiliates  me 
that  such  a  thing  should  have  happened  to 
you  —  and  in  my  house." 

"  It   was    odious,    hateful  !      But    cats 

scratch  wherever  you  meet  them,  whether 

or  not  it  happens  to  be  in  the  house  of  a 

gentleman."     She  steadied  her  lips  with 

[I26] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


her  teeth.  "  I  suppose  I  ought  to  apolo- 
gize for  calling  your  guest  names  ;  but 
she  is  horrid,  and  I  've  no  apology  to 
make." 

"  She  hasn't  any  feeling  against  you, 
believe  me,"  he  urged.  "It  is  only  that 

—  I  don't  quite  know  how  to  make  you 
understand — that  you  happened  to  change 

—  to  turn  the  attack.     Do  you  see  ?  " 
Her  eyes  widened,  and  she  half  smiled. 

"  Oh,  that  s  the  way  of  it,  is  it  ?  I  won- 
dered what  I  had  done.  It  does  n't  ex- 
cuse her,  however.  And  I  'm  not  amiable 
enough  to  declare  I  'm  glad  to  have  saved 
you  the  blow.  I  hate  that  sort  of  thing. 
Let's  forget  it." 

' '  But  will  you  ?  "  he  begged. 

"  Of  course  I  will.  I  sputter  like  an 
arc  light  at  the  slightest  provocation. 
Don't  think  any  more  about  it.  Good- 
night." 

He  was  standing  looking  after  her  as 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


she  moved  down  the  hall,  when  she  turned 
suddenly  and  came  back  to  him. 

"  I  forgot  to  tell  you  that  your  aunt 
Marianna  is  going  to  live  with  us,"  she 
said.  "  With  you  and  Bella,  I  mean  of 
course.  She  decided  just  as  I  was  tuck- 
ing her  in  and  kissing  her  good-night.  I 
thought  you  'd  like  to  know." 

' '  As  you  were  what  ?  " 

"  Kissing  her  good-night.     Why?  " 

"But —  er — Bella — " 

' '  Oh,  would  n't  Bella  have  done  it  ?  " 

"I  don't  think  she  would.  She  er  — 
well,  you  know,  she  is  n't  given  to  that 
sort  of  thing." 

"  There  are  much  worse  things  than 
kisses,"  declared  she,  warmly. 

"I  should  say  so  indeed,"  he  gravely 
agreed. 

An  enchanting  scarlet  swept  her  cheeks, 
but  she  inquired  quite  without  a  trace  of 
embarrassment  or  confusion  :  "By  the 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


way,  did  you  hear  from  Bella  this  after- 
noon ?  " 

"  No.  It  seems  strange  that  she  didn't 
answer  my  wire,  but  I  expect  her  to- 
morrow." 

"Oh,  of  course.  She'll  probably 
come  right  on,  without  wiring."  She 
hesitated,  then,  with  an  impulse  to  estab- 
lish sympathetic  relations  between  them 
and  to  efface  all  trace  of  the  evening's  un- 
pleasantness, offered  him  her  slim,  brown 
hand. 

"  It 's  so  nice  that  you  '11  soon  be  mar- 
ried, and  so  fittingly  and  happily.  Any- 
thing, anything  but  a  joyless  marriage  1 
You  probably  haven't  thought  much  about 
what  a  monstrous  thing  it  is,  because  you've 
always  known  you  were  going  to  marry 
Bella ;  but  I  've  thought  a  lot  about  it,  you 
see.  Marriage  is  such  a  jog-trot  with  so 
many,  many  people.  How  do  they  ever 
endure  it?  " 

9  [129] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


Inwardly  he  winced,  but  looking  down 
on  her  with  a  smile  he  said  : 

"  When  we  hear  that  you  are  married 
we  may  know  it  has  n't  been  tamely, 
then?  " 

The  moonlight  touched  her  ardent  little 
face. 

"  When  I  marry  it  will  be  because  I 
simply  couldn't  live  without  the  man. 
Because  there  would  n't  be  any  stars  or 
moon  or  sun  for  me  without  him.  Be- 
cause I  'd  even  —  even  wear  last  year's 
sleeves  if  he  weren't  there  to  see.  Oh, 
laugh,  but  that 's  exactly  how  I  feel  about 
it." 

His  eyes  kept  to  her  face. 

' '  Most  people  take  those  things  as  they 
cqme,  I  think,"  said  he. 

"Of  course  they  do,"  she  cried  impa- 
tiently.   "Some   men  don't  use   half  the 
discrimination  in  selecting  their  wives  that 
they  do  in  picking  out  fish  and  oysters  I  " 
[i3oj 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"You  believe  in  the  love  that  fairly 
sweeps  along  in  spite  of  you  ?  " 

She  nodded  emphatically. 

"  There  are  people,"  he  reminded  her, 
' '  who  think  that  there  is  no  feeling  which 
can't  be  controlled." 

"  What  idiots  !  "  snapped  she. 

"  Then  you  don't  believe  it  ?  " 

'*  I  believe  it  of  the  eremite  and  the 
mummy  and  the  ascetic  and  the  bloodless. 
I  believe  it  of  men  and  women  like  Tho- 
reau — or  like  the  Thoreau  that  Stevenson 
gives  us.  You  remember,  don't  you,  — 
the  '  kind  of  man  in  whom  the  needle 
does  not  tremble,  as  in  richer  natures,  but 
points  steadily  north  '  ?  But  real  men  and 
women,  with  pulses  strong  enough  to 
know  their  own  desires  —  oh,  why  dont 
you  stop  me  ?  Fancy,  going  on  like  this 
at  such  an  hour  1  Good-night." 

"  Wait,"  he  begged,  his  voice  full  of 
troubled  gravity;  "doesn't  love  invari- 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


ably  grow  with  association  and  mutual 
interest?" 

' '  If  living  together  meant  loving  to- 
gether do  you  think  there  would  be  as 
many  broken  hearts  as  there  are,  and 
most  of  them  in  pairs  under  the  same 
roof?  Oh,  love  is  rit  proximity  ;  it's  re- 
sponse." 

"  And  what  is  that  ?  " 

Her  gesture  was  full  of  impatience 
again. 

"You  ought  to  know  without  the  tell- 
ing. You  've  met  it.  I  have  n't.  When 
I  do,  I'll  marry  it  —  if  it  will  have  me." 
And  she  went  off  smiling  over  her  shoulder 
at  him. 

He  closed  the  door  of  his  own  room 
behind  him  and  without  lighting  a  candle 
dropped  into  a  chair  and  sat  staring  up  at 
the  Peak ;  but  he  did  not  see  it ;  he  saw 
Davie  Bessire's  vivid  little  face  lifted  to 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


him  there  in  the  moonlight  of  the  unlit 
hall :  for  without  warning  his  ' '  kindled 
hour  "  had  come  ! 

.Whether  or  not  it  was  Genevra  Tellant's 
insufferable  behavior  to  her,  or  the  inti- 
mate way  in  which  her  hair  was  done,  or 
the  fatal  "us"  in  "Aunt  Marianna  is 
coming  to  live  with  us,"  or  whether  it  had 
been  coming  from  the  first  time  he  had  set 
eyes  on  her,  he  did  not  know.  But  it  had 
come!  .  .  .  It  had  come,  with  Bella  steam- 
ing toward  him  at  the  rate  of  forty  miles 
an  hour,  no  doubt ;  had  come,  when  by 
every  sense  of  honor  and  decency  he  must 
be  married  before  the  week  was  out  ;  it 
had  come  when  there  was  no  reprieve ! 
And  the  oddest  part  of  it  all  was  that  the 
feeling  awakened  in  him  seemed  one  of  re- 
surgence rather  than  of  sudden  birth .  It  was 
as  if  somewhere  he  had  loved  her  before. 

He  did  not  pretend  to  deceive  himself 
by  calling  it  camaraderie  or  friendship  or 
[i33] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


any  one  of  a  dozen  names.  He  called  it 
love,  because  he  knew  it  to  be  that.  All 
his  life  he  had  scoffed  at  affinity  and  things 
of  that  sort,  but  he  knew  now  that  it  was 
because  he  had  understood  them  so  little. 
He  recalled  a  boy  he  had  once  known, 
who,  laughing  at  electricity,  had  thrown 
himself  upon  a  live  wire.  A  curious  chill 
seized  him  at  the  thought  of  what  his  own 
fate  must  be. 

That  he  had  not  greatly  cared  for  Bella 
had  never  troubled  him.  When  the  time 
came  he  would  grow  fond  enough  of  her, 
he  had  always  told  himself  comfortably, 
counting  upon  marshaling  his  affections 
as  he  marshaled  his  affairs.  But  they 
deserted,  going  openly  into  another  camp, 
and  not  all  his  generalship  could  bring 
them  back,  he  knew. 

This  and  more  he  realized  as  he  sat 
there,  ranging  them  side  by  side:  the  girl 
he  should  have  loved  and  did  not,  and 
[,34] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


the  one  he  should  not  have  loved  and  did. 
All  manner  of  verities  were  Bella's,  all 
manner  of  contradictions,  Davie's.  With- 
out a  pretense  of  denial  he  admitted  it. 
He  knew  with  what  zealot-like  stoicism 
Bella  would  front  the  cannonading  of  ca- 
lamity and  the  picket-fire  of  trifles,  while 
Davie  would  probably  cover  her  ears  and 
run.  He  knew  that  Bella's  spruceness 
and  orderliness  would  keep  his  household 
in  perennial  bloom,  but  you  could  drop 
ash  from  your  pipe  on  Davie's  favorite 
Kazak  and  Davie  wouldn't  bat  an  eye,  he 
was  ready  to  wager.  With  Bella  a  man 
would  never  have  to  lay  out  his  own 
clothes  or  bother  about  ordering  coal,  and 
he  wouldn't,  if  he  were  dead  spent,  have 
to  heave  to  and  help  lift  the  domestic 
menage  out  of  the  mire,  for  Bella  would 
see  to  all  that.  Yet — he  shivered  as  a 
breath  from  this  rarefied  domestic  atmos- 
phere seemed  to  blow  over  him,  and  he 
[,35] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


turned  quickly  to  warm  himself  by  Davie's 
smile, — that  delicious,  responsive,  provo- 
cative little  smile, — which  was  not  for  him. 

He  felt  as  if  he  had  been  caught  up  by 
a  whirlwind  of  emotion,  whipped  about 
violently,  dropped  breathless  and  broken. 
An  actual  physical  numbness  seemed  upon 
him.  He  could  only  sit,  staring  wretch- 
edly down  the  path  of  the  future. 

' '  Anything,  anything  rather  than  the  joy- 
less marriage  1  "  Davie's  words  rang  in  his 
ears,  and  her  face  danced  alluringly  before 
his  mental  vision.  He  groaned  despair- 
ingly. To  the  end  of  his  days  she  would 
haunt  him,  his  small,  adorable  ghost ! 

The  inexorableness  of  his  fate  smote 
him.  He  could  not  even  struggle  for 
freedom  because  of  the  bonds  that  wrapped 
and  held  him  like  webs  of  steel :  Bella, 
his  Aunt  Marianna,  fate,  circumstances, 
his  honor,  his  personal  interest, — all  arose 
before  him.  There  was  no  appeal  I 
[i36] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


Through  his  open  window  he  heard,  in 
the  stillness  of  the  late  night,  Davie, 
speaking  softly  to  his  aunt.  What  service 
to  -give  a  stranger !  How  sweet  she  was 
in  all  her  attention  !  Nursing  was  plainly 
not  her  mission  in  life,  yet  how  splen- 
did she  was  in  her  eagerness  to  do  the 
right  thing,  how  amusingly  painstaking 
and  conscientious.  Ah,  she  was  the  stuff 
his  dreams  were  made  of  1 

A  chipmunk  came  scurrying  along  the 
rocks  that  were  almost  on  a  level  with  his 
window,  pausing  suddenly  and  sitting  up, 
his  tail  waving  jauntily,  his  bead-bright 
eyes  shining.  With  his  head  on  one  side 
he  posed  there,  an  impudent  little  figure 
in  the  moonlight. 

Langstaff  tossed  a  pine  cone  from  the 
hearth  at  him. 

"You  irresponsible  little  devil!"  he 
cried  enviously. 


CHAPTER   EIGHT 


"And  when  perchance  of  all  perfection 
You  've  seen  an  end, 

Your  thoughts  may  turn  in  my  direction 
To  find  a  friend." 


CHAPTER  EIGHT 

l^JUEER,  isn't  it,  that  no  word  has 
come  from  Miss  Kaye?"  remarked  David 
Bessire  the  next  day  after  luncheon,  as  he 
and  Gockran  sat  smoking  together. 

"Mighty  queer.  LangstafFs  message 
went  off  by  ten  yesterday  morning. 
Thought  we'd  hear  in  the  afternoon 
without  fail.  Can  t  understand  it  at  all." 

"  They  put  the  wire  through,  did  they? 
There's  still  some  trouble  over  the  strike, 
you  know." 

"Oh,  yes,  it  went  through  all  right. 
Mrs.  Tellant  took  it  around  to  the  office  for 
me.  She  was  going  on  her  own  account, 
and  it  was  a  great  accommodation  to  me 
to  have  her  do  it.  I  met  her  a  half  hour 
afterward  and  she  assured  me  it  had 
gone." 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


The  keen  old  brown  eyes  widened 
beneath  the  hemp-colored  brows. 

"  So  Mrs.  Tellant  attended  to  it,  did 
she?"  Bessire  remarked. 

Benjamin  Gochran  turned  his  cigar  at- 
tentively in  his  plump  white  fingers.  It 
was  one  that  Langstaff  wanted  him  to  try, 
—  a  new  brand,  —  and  he  could  not  make 
up  his  mind  whether  or  not  he  liked  it. 
He  considered  it,  frowning  judicially. 

His  interest  in  the  situation  at  the  Sky- 
land  was  not  great.  Indeed  he  was  rather 
irked  than  otherwise  by  it,  since  Miss 
Bessire' s  attentions  to  the  invalid  kept  her 
almost  continually  in  the  sick  room,  and 
Mrs.  Tellant  not  only  bored  him  but  was  in 
turn  —  as  he  was  beginning  to  see  —  bored 
by  him.  Langstaff  was  preoccupied,  and 
gave  little  heed  to  the  running  of  the 
household,  and  matters  were  in  no  wise  as 
comfortable  as  they  had  been  before  the 
female  invasion.  Besides,  he  could  see 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


no  reason  for  uneasiness:  as  long  as  the 
troublesome  old  dame  up  there  kept  to  her 
bed  there  could  be  no  exposure. 

He  drew  a  long  inhalation  and  blew 
successive  smoke  rings,  pursing  his  fat 
lips  critically  as  the  last  one  left  them. 

Tom  Brindley  came  up  the  steps  at  the 
moment  and  gave  them  greeting,  throwing 
himself  into  a  chair  and  mopping  a  hot 
forehead.  Climbing  at  midday  in  June 
is  stiff  work. 

' '  Well,  what  news  ?  Bella  here  ?  "  he 
asked. 

"Neither  here  nor  heard  from,"  said 
Bessire. 

"What!  That's  odd.  Nothing  wrong, 
is  there  ?  I  thought  Gavin  felt  he  could 
count  on  her." 

Benjamin  Gockran  squinted  an  eye  at 
them.  "  The  truth  is  their  engagement  is 
a  mighty  peculiar  one,"  said  he.  "Most 
men  would  be  afraid  to  risk  it,  unless  they 

[143] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


were  indifferent  about  losing  the  girl. 
From  what  he  tells  me  she's  the  soul  of 
honor,  and  I  don't  think  wild  horses  could 
keep  her  from  coming  if  she  knew  he 
needed  her.  It  may  he  she  was  out  of 
Greeley,  in  the  mountains  somewhere,  — 
they  go  into  'em  by  automobile  from  there 
in  a  few  hours,  you  know,  — and  the 
message  may  have  to  follow  her.  She'll 
show  up  all  right  in  time,  I've  no  doubt." 

' 'How  is  Miss  Langstaff  to-day? "  asked 
Brindley. 

"Better — alarmingly  so,"  said  Bessire. 
"She  begins  to  take  notice.  There  won't 
be  any  fooling  her  after  a  few  days  at 
most." 

' '  Eyes  better,  too  ?  " 

' '  Not  as  much  improved  as  her  general 
condition  —  fortunately. " 

"Don't  approve  of  this  masquerad- 
ing business,  myself,"  growled  Gockran. 
"  Gavin  was  put  to  his  wit's  end,  of 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


course,  with  her  lighting  on  him  like  that, 
but  it  seems  to  me  he  might  have  hit  on  a 
better  plan.  I  don't  believe  in  deception 
of  any  sort." 

"Don't  you,  indeed,"  carelessly  re- 
marked Bessire,  as  he  looked  at  his  watch. 
"I  do.  It's  the  only  anesthetic  for  some 
forms  of  acute  nervous  and  mental  dis- 
order." 

"I've  no  patience  with  mind-sickness. 
Who  wants  to  be  anesthetized,  anyhow?" 
muttered  Gockran. 

"It's  a  part  of  the  doctor's  prescription 
in  Miss  LangstafTs  case,  and  it's  got  to 
be  carried  out.  No  risks  of  any  sort. 
He  was  emphatic  about  it.  .  .  .  It's  about 
time  that  cog  was  coming  down,  is  n't 
it?" 

' '  Going  to  the  Springs  ?  ' '  asked  Brind- 
ley,  in  some  surprise. 

"Yes.  It's  time  for  the  —  er  —  new 
magazines." 

[i46] 


10 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


Arriving  at  the  Springs  he  forgot  his 
eagerness  for  the  fresh  periodicals,  how- 
ever, and  went  at  once  to  the  telegraph 
office,  where  he  asked  to  have  shown  him 
a  copy  of  the  telegram  sent  on  the  day 
before  to  Miss  Bella  Kaye  by  Mrs.  Tellant, 
signed  by  Gavin  Langstaff.  He  explained 
that  no  reply  had  been  received  and  that 
some  fear  was  entertained  that  the  wording 
of  the  message  had  not  clearly  indicated 
that  one  was  expected.  He  had  been  com- 
missioned by  Mr.  Langstaff  to  look  into 
the  matter.  His  manner  was  careless  and 
pleasant  and  the  clerk  brought  at  once  the 
desired  duplicate. 

Polishing  his  glasses  he  set  them  astride 
his  nose.  Then  he  read  the  copy  : 

"Aunt  Marianna  ill  here.  Disposed  as 
usual  to  disregard  the  doctors.  Don't 
come." 

For  a  long  minute  David  Bessire  stood 
staring  down  at  it. 

[i46] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"Humph,"  he  muttered  to  himself. 
' '  Trust  her  to  see  how  easily  it  could 
be  done.  Confound  that  chuckle-headed 
Cockran  for  leaving  it  to  her." 

Then  he  drew  the  pad  toward  him  and 
wrote  a  simple  and  direct  message  to  Bella 
Kaye,  saw  it  put  through  before  he  left  the 
office,  and  arranging  to  have  the  reply  sent 
to  the  Skyland  whenever  it  arrived,  he 
left  the  place  with  turbulent  emotions. 

Langstaff  meanwhile  was  having  a  bad 
day  of  it.  His  disappointment  and  annoy- 
ance had  begun  with  breakfast  when  Davie 
had  sent  down  word  that  she  would  be  occu- 
pied for  some  time  with  Miss  Langstaff,  and 
begging  him  on  no  account  to  keep  the 
meal  waiting  for  her.  There  was  nothing 
to  do  but  to  proceed  without  her,  Genevra 
Tellant  gracing  the  coffee  urn.  He  was  so 
outraged  with  her  for  her  treatment  of 
Davie  the  night  before  that  he  felt  more 

[1*7] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


like  laying  violent  hands  on  her  than 
placing  her  at  the  foot  of  his  table. 

Davie  kept  well  to  the  sick  room  all  the 
morning,  though  with  apparently  no 
marked  intent;  but  he  realized  that  with 
Mrs.  Tellant  trailing  about  he  would  see 
little  of  her  outside  of  his  aunt's  room. 

His  whole  inclination  was  to  ask  Mrs. 
Tellant  to  leave,  but  this  was,  of  course, 
impossible.  Neither  could  he  afford  to 
offend  or  neglect  her.  She  was  more 
than  a  guest  under  his  roof,  —  she  was 
the  friend  in  need,  and  he  must  at  least 
be  decently  polite  to  her.  He  was,  how- 
ever, in  no  state  for  her  raillery  and  her 
confidence.  He  dreaded  the  one  as  much 
as  the  other.  She  would  relive  what  it 
would  please  her  to  call  the  tragedy  of 
her  life,  or  she  would  die  in  the  attempt. 
Some  women  exhibit  their  wounds  of  life 
very  much  as  children  exhibit  stubbed  toes 
and  cut  fingers;  there  is  the  same  quivering 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


of  sensitive  chins,  the  same  furtive  seeking 
for  sympathy,  the  same  pride  in  being 
thus  distinguished  by  suffering.  They  take 
off  the  stained  bandages  fold  on  fold,  till 
the  wrapped  thing  is  disclosed  in  all  its 
hideousness.  Then  they  slowly  re-cover 
that  which  should  never  have  been  ex- 
posed, and  with  heads  held  a  little  higher 
than  usual,  and  faces  sweetly  resigned, 
they  continue  on  what  they  imagine  others 
call  their  brave  way. 

The  revelation  of  the  night  before  had 
left  LangstafF  too  bewildered  to  consider 
any  other  than  his  own  world  of  upheaval. 
He  had  slept  but  little  and  felt  physically 
and  mentally  undone.  Besides,  he  was 
greatly  worried  that  no  word  had  come 
from  Bella.  The  danger  of  the  situation 
grew  with  every  hour.  The  demand  he 
had  made  of  Chance  was  perilous.  Would 
she  fail  him  ? 

His   thoughts    busied   themselves  with 

t'*9] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


their  own  affairs  and  he  dodged  Mrs. 
Tellant,  although  Bessire  and  Cockran 
were  both  conveniently  at  hand  through- 
out the  morning,  so  that  the  dreaded 
moment  of  intimacy  was  averted.  At 
luncheon  Davie  came  down,  chatting  gaily 
with  her  grandfather.  Her  nod  in  Gene- 
vra  Tellant' s  direction  was  careless,  yet 
quite  perfect  in  that  it  was  neither  too  in- 
different nor  yet  conciliatory.  And  the 
meal  had  gone  better  than  he  had  dared 
to  hope.  Then  Bessire  had  departed, 
Cockran  had  gone  off  with  Tom  Brindley, 
and  he  and  Mrs.  Tellant  were  alone  at 
last. 

She  lay  on  a  wicker  couch,  her  arms 
above  her  head,  the  lace  of  her  sleeves 
falling  away  from  them,  her  eyes  on  the 
mountains. 

"  Was  it  Dr.  Johnson  who  thought  one 
green  field  like  every  other,  and  who  pre- 
ferred to  go  to  Cheapside  to  see  men  ?  " 
[i5o] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


she  asked  in  a  lazy  voice.  "I  suppose 
he  would  have  said  the  same  thing  about 
the  hills,  wouldn't  he?  But  see  them  ! 
How  could  anyone  care  more  for  men 
than  for  nature  ?  " 

He  smiled  to  himself,  knowing  the  many 
roads  women  take  to  reach  their  conversa- 
tional destination. 

"Yet,"  mused  she,  "they  make  me 
think  of  men,  these  mountains  of  yours; 
they  are  such  big,  potential,  mighty  fel- 
lows." She  turned  to  him  abruptly  with  a 
caught  breath  and  shining  eyes:  "Is  there 
anything  so  fine  as  the  bigness  of  men  and 
dreams  and  resolutions  and —  loves  ?"  she 
challenged.  "  How,  how,  I  hate  a 
pigmy,  —  a  little  fluffy,  baby  thing  that 
belongs  in  the  nursery  yet  goes  strutting 
about  in  swaddling  clothes,  calling  itself 
grown-up." 

"You  mix  your  figures,"  he  com- 
mented, with  a  tinge  of  impatience.  ' '  In- 
[161  ] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


fants  in  swaddling  clothes  don't  strut,  you 
know." 

She  laughed,  —  she  had  saved  so  many 
moments  with  that  laugh  of  hers.  All 
his  antagonism  she  felt,  and  set  herself 
against,  determined  to  conquer  it.  "  Fig- 
ures are  such  wooden  things  at  best,"  she 
declared  lightly.  "  Let's  have  done  with 
them,  — lift  them  out  of  the  conversation 
like  so  many  awkward  saw-horses.  There 
is  so  much  to  say  we  must  not  be  cum- 
bered." 

She  lay,  blue  pillows  behind  her  russet 
head,  eyes  on  the  hop-vine  that  swayed 
in  the  breeze,  and  when  he  did  not  reply 
she  turned  her  head  slowly  and  looked  at 
him. 

' '  Are  you  saying  to  yourself  that  '  to 
know  what  to  leave  unsaid  is  better  than 
to  know  what  to  say'?"  she  demanded, 
with  a  gay  laugh.  Then  her  face  became 
suddenly  grave,  — that  abrupt  change  of  a 
[IBs] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


merry  face  is  the  best  trick  some  women 
play.  "But  why  shouldn't  we  talk, 
Gavin  ?  Why  cover  with  silence  as  with 
a  cloak  that  which  is  no  shame  to  us  ? 
Tact  holds  its  tongue,  I  grant  you,  but  — 
50  does  cowardice." 

"What  do  you  mean?"  he  asked 
warmly. 

The  black  lashes  swept  her  cheeks 
quickly  as  if  they  caught  back  tears,  and 
her  voice  was  appealing  with  its  catches 
of  feeling  :  ' '  We  must  speak  of  you  and 
your  happiness!  " 

"  Oh,  I  beg  you  —  " 

"Now,  now,  don't  try  to  prevent  it!" 
She  sat  up,  smiling  gently,  and,  beating 
the  pillows,  she  leaned  more  effectively 
than  ever  among  them.  "I'm  so  con- 
cerned for  you,  dear  boy.  I  have  ex- 
tracted bit  by  bit — don't  scold  me  for  it, 
—  from  your  friend  Mr.  Gockran  the 
whole  story  of  your  arranged  betrothal. 
[.53] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


We    may    speak    plainly,    may    we    not, 
Gavin  ?" 

"  Only  when  the  affair  is  between  you 
and  me,"  said  he. 

A  smile  drew  sharply  at  the  corners  of 
her  delicate  mouth. 

"  Aren't  you  straining  at  a  gnat  ?  "  she 
suggested  rather  crisply.  "You  can't 
hold  inviolate  that  which  screams  itself  to 
all  the  world.  I  don't  mean  to  be  horrid, 
but  it  does  surprise  me  to  find  you  so 
tamely  acquiescent.  I  thought  your  blood 
ran  swift  and  hot  and  that  you  would 
allow  nothing  to  keep  you  from  domi- 
nating your  own  destiny." 

The  sting  of  her  words  and  smile  did 
not  touch  him.  He  was  merely  wonder- 
ing how  women  could  be  of  such  different 
texture  as  she  and  Davie  Bessire. 

' '  It  may  be  that  your  fiancee's  beauty 
of  character  resigns  you  the  more  willingly 
to  your  aunt's  plans,"  she  reflected.    ' '  Mr. 
[i54] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


Cockran  was  most  enthusiastic  in  his 
praise  of  her,  based  entirely  on  your 
report,  since  he  tells  me  he  has  never 
had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  her." 

"She's  a  fine,  good  girl,"  said  he, 
stoutly. 

' '  Fancy  a  hedonist  like  you  married  to 
such  a  girll  "  she  exclaimed,  an  indescrib- 
able expression  in  her  eyes.  "  But  that 's 
always  the  way  of  it,  —  men  want  women 
for  friends  and  saints  for  wives !  .  .  .  Of 
course  this  ends  things  bet  ween  us.  I  had 
thought  —  "  again  there  was  the  tremor  of 
voice,  the  quick  sweep  of  long  lashes  — 
' '  that  if  fate  brought  us  together  again  it 
might  be — different.  But  that  is  n't  to  be 
thought  of  now.  I  get  on  badly  with  per- 
fection. So  you  mustn't  expect  me  to  be 
friends  with  Bella." 

There  were  many  things  he  longed  to 
say,  but  he  held  his  tongue.  And  she 
gave  him  no  opportunity  for  speech,  in- 
[i55J 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


deed.  "  Life  is  queer,"  she  said,  "  — so 
full  of  strange  entanglements  and  stranger 
partings.  .  .  .  This  is  our  real  good-by. 
To  be  sure,  we  shall  say  it  later  before  the 
others,  but  what  an  empty  ceremonial  the 
mere  saying  of  it  always  is  I  " 

He  was  fretted  immoderately.  Women 
who  were  so  "  long  on  talk"  always  bored 
him,  and  she  was  making  an  abominable 
nuisance  of  herself,  he  grumbled  inwardly, 
vaguely  aware  that  to  most  men  she  must 
appear  bewitching  as  she  lay  there  in  her 
fetching  gown,  meeting  the  light  as  fear- 
lessly as  a  girl  ten  years  her  junior  would 
have  done. 

"  Don't  hate  me,"  she  begged,  leaning 
suddenly  from  the  pillows  and  laying  a 
hand  upon  his  arm.  "  Can't  you  see 
that  it 's  because  I  care  so  much  for  you 
that  I  'm  half  savage  with  anxiety  for  you?" 

"  Don't  bother  about  me,"  he  stam- 
mered. 

[,56] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


' '  But  —  but  how  can  you  be  happy 
with  your  little  paragon,  Bella? "  she 
cried.  "Oh,  I  know  you  could  shake 
me  for  saying  such  things.  I  know  per- 
fectly how  loyal  you  are  to  her,  and  I  re- 
spect you  for  it.  But,  Gavin,  Gavin,  don't 
deceive  yourself  about  it ;  you  're  not  the 
kind  of  man  to  be  content  under  dreary 
marital  conditions  I  You  're  not  the  man 
to  live  upon  a  starvation  diet!  " 

She  held  out  her  hands  to  him  in  an 
adorable  gesture  :  ' '  Forgive  me  —  and  if 
you  can  remember  me  as  anything  but  an 
unpardonable  meddler,  come  to  me,  if — 
if  there  is  ever  anything  I  can  do  to  help 
you  or  to  make  life  a  little  brighter  for 
you." 


[i57] 


CHAPTER  NINE 


"  They  lock'd  the  bower,  they  lit  the  torch 
'Twos  hurry-skurry  a'." 


CHAPTER  NINE 

1  OM  is  staying  with  the  baby,"  Mrs. 
Brindley  said  to  Langstaff  that  evening  as 
she  came  up  the  bungalow  steps,  "and 
I  've  come  to  send  Davie  out  for  a  bit  of 
air.  She's  so  used  to  outdoors  that  she 
must  be  missing  it  a  little.  I  can  go  in  to 
your  aunt  quite  openly  as  your  neighbor, 
and  not  take  the  risk  of  having  Mrs.  Tel- 
lant  stay,  you  know.  You  can  trust  me 
with  her.  I  'm  a  very  discreet  person, 
and  I  promise  not  to  endanger  the  situa- 
tion." 

"  I  'm  no  end  obliged  to  you,"  he  said 
earnestly.  "I've  been  trying  to  devise 
ways  and  means  of  getting  Miss  Bessire 
out  of  the  house,  but  I  can't  budge  her. 
It  distresses  me  to  think  of  her  close 
confinement." 

[161] 


II 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


' '  Oh,  don't  worry  about  Davie,  — she 's 
the  toughest  little  wretch  you  ever  saw, 
and  she  's  having  a  lot  of  fun  out  of  the 
masquerade,  I  '11  wager.  .  .  .  How  do 
you  do,  Mrs.  Tellant,"  —  as  that  lady 
came  out  and,  offering  her  an  indifferent 
hand,  sank  gracefully  into  a  chair.  '  'Where 
are  the  others?"  with  a  glance  about  the 
deserted  porch. 

"  Gone  off  to  smoke  in  the  pines,  per- 
haps. It  's  rather  difficult  to  be  always 
guarding  one's  voice,  you  know,  as  Mr. 
Bessire  and  I  have  constantly  to  do.  I 
think  it  irks  him,  and  he  gets  away  as 
often  as  possible." 

' '  Mercy  !  That 's  so,  is  n't  it  ?  Do  you 
appreciate  the  fact  that  they  hold  your 
destiny  in  their  hands,  Mr.  Langstaff  ?  " 

"That  he  doesn't,"  declared  Genevra 
Tellant,  with  a  curious  smile  flickering  in 
her  eyes.  ' '  He  scarcely  thinks  of  us  at  all, 
he  is  so  worried  over  Miss  Kaye's  non- 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


appearance.    .    .    .  Are    you    leaving    us, 
Gavin  ?  " 

."Merely  to  fetch  Miss  Bessire.  Mrs. 
Brindley  is  to  stay  with  Aunt  Marianna 
while  she  takes  a  little  airing." 

"Ah,  a  very  good  arrangement.  .  .  . 
It  does  seem  strange  that  Miss  Kaye  should 
fail  him  when  he  so  needs  her,  does  n't 
it?"  she  questioned  in  a  lower  tone,  as  he 
went  up  the  stairs. 

"  Perhaps,  but  it  may  be  that —  " 

' '  That  she  refuses  to  fly  at  his  call 
when  he  has  so  persistently  neglected  her. 
Women  retaliate  when  they  have  the 
chance,  the  best  of  them." 

"  Sh  1  "  warned  Mary  Brindley,  for  al- 
ready Langstaff  and  Davie  were  at  the 
stairhead. 

"I  think  I'll  go  up  toward  the  Peak 
and  get  some  forget-me-nots,"  said  Davie, 
running  down  to  them.     "Miss  Langstaff 
hasn't  seen  the  Pike's  Peak  variety." 
[:63] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"  Don't  go  too  far,"  urged  Mrs.  Brind- 
ley  ;  "  it  will  soon  be  dark." 

"  Hadn't  I  better  come  along?"  sug- 
gested Langstaff,  torn  between  a  desire  to 
go  and  the  conviction  that  the  less  he  saw 
of  her  the  better  it  would  be  for  him. 

"  No,  indeed,"  smiled  she,  over  her 
shoulder,  and  went  off  down  the  steps. 
"  Stay  and  entertain  your  company,"  and 
she  waved  a  gay  little  hand  to  them  and 
hurried  lightly  up  the  trail. 

"  Aunt  Marianna  is  sleeping,"  explained 
Langstaff,  and  drew  up  a  chair  for  Mrs. 
Brindley. 

"  You  have  a  better  view  than  we,"  she 
said  critically.  "  I  always  tell  Tom  so. 
We  see  the  Peak  itself  plainer,  but  your 
view  of  the  plains  and  the  Springs  and  the 
hills  between  here  and  the  Garden  of  the 
Gods  is  much  finer  than  ours." 

They  looked  out  between  the  close- 
pressing  ribs  of  the  mountains  to  the  mesa 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


running  like  a  sea:  gray  where  it  met  the 
grayer  horizon,  deep  blue  where  it  laved 
the  foothills.  About  the  peaks  themselves 
it  was  all  sharp  shadow  and  brilliant 
color,  — the  shadows  of  the  giant  boulders 
on  the  towering  crests,  the  crimson  of  a 
sunset  just  fading.  They  talked  while 
the  color  died  and  the  shadows  spread, 
while  lights  ran  up  the  rocks  on  every 
side  from  Manitou  and  sprinkled  like  star- 
drift  over  the  town  itself.  Away  over 
beyond  the  Springs  the  Printers'  Home 
twinkled  at  all  its  windows,  and  dimly, 
from  farther  rises  in  the  undulating  purple 
mesa,  misty  gleams  showed,  like  candle 
flames. 

A  train  crawled  below  along  the  rocks. 
They  heard  its  rumble  and  they  knew 
how  it  looked  as  it  crept  in  and  out  of  the 
tunnels  and  behind  the  riven  slabs  of 
granite,  twisting  like  a  huge  irisated 
snake.  And  after  awhile  Bessire  and 
['65] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


Cockran  came  strolling  in  from  the  pines, 
and  Mrs.  Brindley  went  upstairs  to  be 
there  when  Miss  LangstafF  should  waken. 

An  hour  later  Langstaff  began  to  move 
restlessly  about  the  porch,  a  furtive  eye 
on  the  trail :  there  were  clouds  about  the 
Peak  which  worried  him.  It  was  cer- 
tainly time  Davie  came  home.  The 
mountains  were  not  safe  for  women  alone, 
he  told  himself,  so  many  people  of  every 
sort  go  up  and  down  the  burro  trail  and 
the  cog  road.  Many  more  than  usual  had 
passed  to-day  and  he  wished  that  he  had 
insisted  upon  accompanying  her. 

The  shadows  had  now  blotted  out  the 
color  of  the  sunset,  and  the  darkness  was 
thickening,  while  a  feel  of  storm  was  in  the 
air.  He  glanced  at  David  Bessire,  but  that 
gentleman  was  deep  in  a  story,  and  had 
apparently  forgotten  that  Davie  was  away. 

Mrs.  Tellant  met  his  anxious  look  and 
smiled  banteringly. 

[,66] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"What's  the  matter,  Gavin?  You  are 
as  fussy  as  can  be,"  she  said. 

-"It's  time  Miss  Bessire  was  here.  I 
don't  like  the  idea  of  her  being  up  there 
alone  after  dark." 

"What's  that?"  exclaimed  David 
Bessire.  "Why,  that's  so,  she  hasn't 
come,  has  she?  To  be  sure  she  oughtn't 
to  be  up  there  at  this  time  of  the  night. 
I  '11  go  up  and  meet  her." 

"No,  let  me,"  urged  Langstaff.  "  Mrs. 
Brindley  is  with  Aunt  Marianna.  Ben, 
just  explain  to  them  that  I  've  gone  to 
meet  Miss  Bessire,  will  you?" 

"I'll  come  along,"  said  Bessire.  "How 
foolish  of  her  to  have  ventured  so  far,  with 
night  coming  on.  Besides  she  doesn't 
know  the  mountains.  We've  been  in  the 
neighborhood  such  a  short  time.  What 
a  weather-breeder  the  Peak  is!  Don't 
like  those  clouds  about  it,  do  you?  Sup- 
pose we  try  calling  her  ?  She  may  be 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


in  reach  of  our  voices,"  and  he  stopped 
on  the  trail,  and  shouted  through  his 
trumpeted  hands.  It  was  the  Australian 
bush-cry : 

' '  Coo-ee  I   Coo-ee !  Coo-ee  !  " 

Silence  answered  it. 

"She's  farther  away  than  that,"  said 
Langstaff,  trudging  on.  "  And  the  wind 's 
blowing  the  wrong  way.  I  wish  we  had 
brought  a  light." 

' '  We  can  have  a  torch  when  we  need 
it.  I  've  plenty  of  matches." 

They  moved  rapidly  up  the  trail,  each 
with  an  anxious  eye  on  the  gathering 
clouds. 

' '  Why  not  try  the  cog  ?  We  can  make 
better  time  on  it,"  suggested  LangstafF, 
and  he  swung  along  easily  at  the  side  of 
the  rails,  while  Bessire  fitted  his  slender 
feet  to  the  cog  and  moved  up  beside  him, 
but  with  more  difficulty.  The  sheer  lift 
of  the  road  ahead  seemed  to  challenge 
[168] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


them ;  drifting  clouds  settled  gray  and 
angry  over  Cameron's  Gone,  and  the  wind 
increased. 

' '  Where  do  the  confounded  forget-me- 
nots  grow?"  panted  David  Bessire. 

' '  She  probably  made  straight  for  Grand 
Point.  The  nearest  ones  are  there.  Let's 
try  calling  again." 

The  cry  rang  out  bravely,  whipped  by 
the  wind  :  "  Coo-ee!  Goo-ee!  Goo-ee!  " 
And  the  unsteady  tones  of  the  older  man 
echoed  it:  "Coo-ee!  Goo-ee!  Coo-ee!" 

Only  the  rocks  made  answer  with  their 
echo. 

"No  use,"  muttered  Davie's  grand- 
father. 

They  talked  but  little  now  :  facing  the 
wind  at  an  elevation  of  eleven  thousand 
feet  is  not  conducive  to  conversation, 
especially  when  the  lungs  are  old,  and 
David  Bessire  wheezed  like  an  asthmatic. 
It  had  begun  to  rain  very  softly.  A  burro 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


party  hastening  down  the  trail  shouted  at 
the  burros  and  disappeared  in  a  helter- 
skelter  of  noise  and  dust.  The  mountains 
glowered  :  Old  Baldy  was  black  and  beet- 
ling, and  Red  Mountain  drew  the  shadows 
like  a  huge  shawl  about  his  shoulders. 
Bessire  quickened  his  steps  to  keep  up 
with  Langstaff,  but  his  breathing  was  in- 
creasingly worse. 

Langstaff  broke  a  stick  for  him  and 
whittled  it  as  they  went.  He  was  begin- 
ning to  be  gravely  anxious  for  Davie's 
safety,  and  it  fretted  him  to  have  to  time 
his  steps  to  the  older  man's.  The  rain 
now  sheeted  down  the  mountain  side  and 
the  clouds  were  so  low  that  Bessire  felt  he 
could  have  dragged  them  down  under  his 
feet  by  merely  putting  up  his  stick  and  im- 
paling them.  He  shivered  uncontrollably. 

"  Poor  little  honey!  "  he  breathed. 

Langstaff 's  hands  shut  spasmodically. 
Better  than  Bessire  he  knew  the  risks  of 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


the  mountains, — knew  the  panic  which 
seizes  you  when  darkness  and  clouds  and 
grim  walls  shut  you  in ;  when  canons  are 
alleys  of  blackness  and  a  false  step  may 
mean  tragedy.  And  while  he  comforted 
himself  in  thinking  of  Davie's  cool  head 
and  high  courage,  he  was  very  far  from 
being  assured  of  her  safety. 

Be"ssire  was  turning  up  his  collar  and 
buttoning  his  coat  tighter  across  his  breast, 
muttering  that  she  wore  her  thinnest  dress 
and  no  wrap,  and  Langstaff  lifted  his 
voice  again  and  again,  shouting  desper- 
ately into  the  teeth  of  the  gale,  Bessire 
joining,  his  old  voice  shaking  piteously. 
But  only  the  elements  answered, — the 
malignant  wind,  the  stream  dashing  among 
the  rocks  at  the  side  of  the  track,  the 
shiver  of  the  lean  pines. 

At  the  point  of  the  road  where  the  trail 
leads  off  toward    Grand    Point    they  felt 
their  way  across  the  track  and  along  the 
[*7«] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


side  of  the  cliff.  It  was  no  use  to  try  to 
carry  a  torch  in  the  wind  and  rain,  so 
they  slid  and  slipped  and  held  to  each 
other,  trying  to  scale  the  cathedral-huge 
rocks  ahead,  and  to  detour  the  jagged 
declivities.  But  it  seemed  impossible  in 
the  darkness.  Bessire  was  now  breathing 
alarmingly,  and  Langstaff  felt  a  sickening 
sense  of  helplessness.  He  was  thinking 
fast  and  hard :  would  it  be  wiser  to  push 
on,  with  the  probability  of  tumbling  off 
the  cliff  at  any  step  and  leaving  Davie 
without  succor  until  someone  else  could 
get  to  her,  or  to  hurry  back  for  a  light 
and  all  the  men  available  from  the  Inn 
and  Brindley's  and  the  bungalow  ? 

Some  such  thing  was  going  through 
David  Bessire's  mind  also;  the  impossi- 
bility of  pressing  on  without  equipment 
was  borne  upon  him  more  and  more 
heavily.  His  old  legs  shook  beneath  him, 
his  head  swam  with  the  effort  to  pierce  the 


THE    RULE    OF   THREE 


darkness,  and  his  chest  ached  cruelly.  If 
he  gave  out  and  Langstaff  should  lose  his 
footing  and  go  pitching  down  below,  what 
would  become  of  Davie? 

He  groaned  miserably,  but  at  the  instant 
Langstaff  gave  a  tremendous  cry  of  relief : 
"The  light!  The  search  light  I  Thank 
God!" 

Reaching  straight  out  from  the  top  of 
Pike's  Peak  a  huge  arm  of  light  swept 
slowly  from  side  to  side,  touching  the 
rocks  and  the  trees  and  they  two,  who 
stood  staring  at  each  other,  white  with 
anxiety,  trembling  with  relief. 

4  •  We  can't  tell  how  short  a  time  it  may 
play,"  said  Langstaff.  •'  If  it  keeps  it  up 
for  fifteen  minutes  I'll  get  to  her.  Yon 
stay  here,  sir,  and  if  it  fails,  find  your 
way  back  to  the  bungalow  and  send  the 
others ; "  and  he  plunged  away  along  the 
hazardous  trail. 

The  great  light  swung  like  a  daggling 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


pendulum, — a  party  of  visitors  was  evi- 
dently staying  the  night  on  the  Peak  and 
for  its  entertainment  what  is  probably  the 
highest  search  light  in  the  world  was 
being  trained  upon  the  lower  peaks.  It 
does  not  happen  often.  That  season  it  had 
occurred  infrequently,  and  to  both  men  it 
seemed  providential. 

Thick  clouds  were  between  it  and  them, 
lit  to  iridescence,  till  they  shone  like  huge 
irregular  opals  against  the  black  breast  of 
the  sky. 

They  trained  the  light  well  up  there  on 
the  summit.  It  flashed  and  darted  like  a 
sea-skimmer.  It  quivered  over  the  seared 
sides  of  the  mountain  and  made  Lang- 
staffs  path  clear.  Then  it  swept  on  and 
left  him  in  darkness,  and  he  slackened  his 
gait  and  caught  his  breath  for  the  moment 
when  it  should  come  again. 

Grand  Point  loomed  majestic  in  its 
towering  blackness.  The  light  swung  over 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


it,  over  the  trail  which  zig-zagged  to  it, 
and  Langstaff  called  Davie's  name,  dash- 
ing eagerly  on  again,  hope  reviving  in  him. 
The  rain  had  ceased  for  the  moment  and 
the  wind  was  dying.  If  the  light  only  con- 
tinued to  play  a  little  longer  he  would  find 
her.  He  was  sure  of  it  I 

He  poised  on  a  ledge  as  the  search  light 
swung  around  once  more,  and  called  again 
through  his  hands,  his  voice  fairly  hurt- 
ling through  the  night;  and  from  back 
there  where  he  had  left  David  Bessire  he 
heard  him  calling  too,  —  pleading  with  the 
darkness  to  give  her  up,  conjuring  her  out 
of  it. 

"Davie!  Oh,  Davie,  child!''  the 
broken  voice  drifted. 

Straight  out  from  the  Peak  like  the  huge 
arm  of  a  crane  the  light  now  stretched, 
and  stayed  for  a  moment,  —  then  faded, 
and  left  a  world  of  pitchier  blackness  than 
it  had  found.  It  had  failed  him  just  when 
['75] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


it  was  most  needed  I  When  he  was  within 
so  short  a  distance  of  the  Point,  and  at 
the  most  difficult  place  in  the  whole  trail! 
His  cry  rang  out  poignantly  into  the  tenu- 
ous darkness  ahead. 

And  out  of  it  an  answer  came ! 

He  plunged  recklessly  down  the  declivity 
at  his  feet. 

' '  Where  are  you  ?"  he  shouted,  ' '  where 
are  you  ?  " 

In  the  darkness  a  little  wet  figure  groped 
its  way  to  him,  and  he  caught  it  in  his 
arms. 

The  light  swept  out  again,  breaking  over 
them. 

"  I've  been  falling  and  getting  up,  and 
falling  —  oh,  don't  look  at  me  I  Don't !  " 
cried  Davie,  with  something  of  the  foolish- 
ness of  hysteria. 

The  spasmodic  tightening  of  his  arms 
stopped  her.  He  held  her  close,  muttering 
incoherent  things  over  her,  and  with  a 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


frightened  little  cry  she  wriggled  away 
from  him,  blue-white  and  shivering. 

"  Come,  come,  we  must  get  away  before 
the  light  fails,"  she  pleaded,  high-pitched 
and  tremulous. 

He  was  struggling  to  pull  himself 
together.  To  have  agonized  over  her, 
dear  little  brave  thing,  and  yet  to  have 
no  right  to  tell  her  what  he  had  suffered ! 
No  right  to  hold  her,  to  cherish  her  ! 

The  light  swung  back  and  forth  and  she 
caught  in  terror  at  his  arm. 

• '  Do  come  —  it  may  go  out  any  minute, 
you  know." 

"  Wait,"  he  said;  "  you  are  cold  and 
shivering.  You  must  wear  this;"  and  he 
slipped  out  of  his  coat,  put  her,  protesting, 
into  it,  and  fastened  it  across  her  breast, 
his  throat  aching  at  the  thought  of  what 
she  had  been  through  up  here  alone,  —  the 
terror,  the  exertion,  the  helplessness. 

"Are  you   sure  you're  not  hurt? "he 

[  177] 


ia 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


insisted  for  the  twentieth  time,  and  when 
she  declared  herself  all  right,  he  took  her 
arm  and  they  ran  up  the  path  which  the 
light  made  bright. 

' '  Does  Grandfather  know  I'm  away 
from  the  bungalow  ?"  she  asked  anxiously. 
And  when  she  found  out  the  truth,  she 
made  him  stop  and  try  to  make  David 
Bessire  understand  that  she  was  safe.  And 
after  that  at  every  pause  for  breath  she 
spent  more  than  she  got  in  calling  out  a 
reassurance  which  could  not  possibly  reach 
him. 

Huddling  limply  on  the  rocks,  David 
Bessire  had  waited,  watching  the  light  in 
an  agony  of  anxiety,  lest  it  suddenly  stop 
playing,  swearing  roundly  when  it  ceased, 
then  standing  up  excitedly  as  it  flashed 
again,  and  sending  broken  shouts  into  the 
abyss  below. 

"  You  are  wearing  yourself  out,  Mr. 
Bessire,"  said  a  voice  at  his  shoulder,  and 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


he  turned  with  a  start,  as  if  a  ghost  had 
come  upon  him,  or  the  woman  had  evolved 
out  of  the  clouds  and  the  mist:  it  was 
Genevra  Tellant,  lifting  a  white  face  from 
the  voluminous  folds  of  a  veil  that  swathed 
her  head  and  shoulders. 

"  I  followed,"  she  gasped.  "  But  you 
—  you  came  so  fast  I  could  n't  overtake 
you,  yet  I  was  —  afraid  to  turn  back. 
Oh,  it  was  awful !  " 

"  Don't  talk,"  he  snapped.    "Listen!" 

Then  out  of  the  drifting  clouds  a  voice 
exulted:  "Found!  !  Found!  !"  and  again: 
"  Found  !  Bessire,  found!  " 

As  they  came  up  the  trail  a  minute 
later,  climbing  the  breastwork  of  rocks, 
Genevra  Tellant  ran  forward  to  meet 
them.  In  moments  like  this  many  things 
are  plain,  and  —  it  was  for  just  this  mo- 
ment she  had  come. 

But  Davie  had  not  even  a  look  for  her. 
Rushing  past  her  she  threw  herself  into 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


her  grandfather's  arms  to  be  smothered 
with  kisses,  while  Langstaff  had  little  more 
thought  for  her  than  if  she  had  not  ap- 
peared there  so  startlingly  in  the  darkness. 
He  scarcely  felt  the  keen  searching  glance 
that  tried  to  read  all  that  was  in  his  heart. 

They  set  off  down  the  trail  at  once, 
without  speech.  They  were  all  too  spent 
for  it.  The  wind  had  grown  strong  again 
and  the  mist  was  like  rain.  Davie  clung 
to  her  grandfather's  arm,  and  left  the  other 
two  to  follow. 

"We'll  have  pneumonia,  I  suppose," 
said  Mrs.  Tellant,  when  having  reached 
the  cog  road  at  last  they  walked  single  file 
beside  the  rails. 

"You  needn't  have  exposed  yourself," 
said  Langstaff,  curtly. 

' '  A  good  many  things  have  been  —  of 
no  need,"  she  said  hotly.  She  was  furi- 
ously angry  with  herself  for  many  reasons, 
angrier  with  him  for  that  which  had  been 
[180] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


revealed  in  the  instant  when  he  had  come 
up  out  of  the  mist  and  the  clouds  with 
Da  vie  Bessire.  The  heat  of  passionate 
rebellion  burned  in  her  veins.  She  could 
forgive  the  real  Bella  for  having  come 
before  her  with  Gavin  Langstaff,  but  her 
pride  revolted  that  this  girl  should  come 
after  her. 

She  had  known  that  Langstaff  was  in 
Colorado,  and  she  had  come  with  the  de- 
termination of  bringing  him  again  under 
her  spell.  She  had  planned  her  campaign 
cleverly  and  had  counted  confidently  upon 
success.  Better  than  any  other  man  she 
liked  him,  and  she  was,  besides,  most 
seriously  in  need  of  financial  reimburse- 
ment. As  the  nephew  of  Marianna  Lang- 
staff  he  would  be  a  very  rich  man  some 
day,  while  his  own  private  fortune  was 
not  insignificant. 

When  she  had  learned  of  his  quasi  en- 
gagement she  had  understood  at  once  that 
[181] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


nothing  short  of  a  miracle  would  make 
him  cease  to  regard  it  as  binding,  but  she 
did  not  accept  the  condition  of  affairs  as 
final, — she  had  seen  the  miracle  of  the 
pretty  woman  worked  so  often.  And  re- 
lying upon  her  dependable  charms  and 
her  equally  dependable  wits  she  expected 
ultimately  to  save  the  day.  Her  credo  was 
one  of  action,  including  nothing  so  pas- 
sive as  sitting  in  the  ashes  of  resignation. 
She  had  accordingly  altered  the  telegram 
to  Bella,  dropped  a  word  now  in  one 
quarter,  now  in  another,  keeping  a  watch- 
ful eye  in  all  directions,  and  awaiting  with 
tranquility  the  interesting  finale. 

Now  here  was  this  new  and  entirely  un- 
locked for  complication  !  This  preposter- 
ous counter !  It  was  maddening. 

She  understood  perfectly  that  this  sud- 
den infatuation  of  Langs tafFs  was  a  force 
much  more  powerful  than  any  which  had 
touched  his  easy-going  life,  and  having 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


sensed  it  intuitively  she  now  tried  dispas- 
sionately to  gauge  it,  but  as  she  stumbled 
along  down  the  mountain  side  she  was 
unable  to  put  herself  into  anything  ap- 
proaching a  temperately  critical  mood. 
The  completeness  of  her  failure  taunted 
her.  She  hated  herself  for  it,  marveled  at 
it,  and  was  utterly  unable  to  comprehend. 

Before  her,  buffeted  by  the  wind,  Da  vie 
tramped,  slim  and  slight,  her  uncovered 
hair  quite  straight,  her  face  wet,  her  boots 
muddy.  She  looked,  in  Gavin's  coat,  more 
like  a  boy  than  a  woman  —  a  woman  who 
could  wrest  a  man's  love  from  its  safe 
moorings  and  carry  it  out  on  precarious 
seas  ! 

She  glanced  over  her  shoulder  at  Gavin, 
and  the  unaccustomed  sternness  of  his 
face  was  fuel  for  her  wrath  :  he  would 
suffer,  —  he  was  already  suffering  over 
this  utterly  insignificant  girl  whom  he  had 
not  known  a  week! — and  she  had  been 
[i83] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


unable  to  move  him.      She  dropped  back 
alongside  him. 

"  So  you  love  her,"  she  said  quietly. 

Out  of  his  abysmal  bitterness  his  laugh 
rang  curtly. 

"  Do  you  wonder  ?  "  he  said. 

Her  passion  made  her  forget  her  cau- 
tion, and  in  the  swirl  of  it  her  judgment 
was  sucked  down  :  ' '  You  seem  to  have 
forgotten  Bella,"  she  said  deliberately. 

"Am  I  likely  to  forget  her?"  he  ex- 
claimed, and  falling  back  left  her  to  go 
on  alone  as  before. 

In  silence,  trudging  one  by  one,  leaning 
against  the  wind,  hurrying  as  the  light 
swung  over  them,  checking  their  steps  as 
it  swept  on,  they  came  at  last  to  the  Sky- 
land. 

Gockran's    big    figure    moved    bulkily 

down  the  porch  steps  to  meet  them,  and 

Kam  Yim  pattered  up  from  the  kitchen. 

His  part  of  the  welcome  was  expressive, 

fi84] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


while  his  yellow  forefinger  twisted  over 
his  shoulder  toward  the  kitchen  where,  he 
conveyed,  hot  broth  awaited  them,  then 
hot*  baths,  and  into  bed.  Was  it  not 
worth  while  to  have  been  exposed  to  the 
storm  for  the  sake  of  such  a  home-coming? 
Grinning  affectionately  at  Langstaff,  and 
kowtowing  before  the  women,  he  skipped 
briskly  back  to  his  domain. 

"  Bella,  Bella,  do  come  and  assure  us 
that  you  are  all  right.  Such  a  fright  as 
you  have  given  us  !  "  called  Miss  Lang- 
staff  as  Davie  ran  up  the  stairs . 

"  How  could  you  have  gone  so  far?  " 
reproached  Mary  Brindley.  Then  she 
caught  Davie's  forlorn  little  figure  to  her. 
"  If  they  had  n't  found  you  !  Oh,  if  they 
had  n't  found  you  !  " 

"  But  they  did,"  said  Davie,  practically, 

and  being  released  from  her  friend's  arms 

unpinned  Gavin's  coat  and  slipping  out  of 

it  put  her  hand  inside  her  shirtwaist  and 

[i85] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


brought  forth  a  bunch  of  crushed  forget- 
me-nots  which  she  laid  on  the  coverlet 
with  a  little  laugh :  ' '  They  did  the 
mischief,"  she  said. 

"  You  darling !  "  cried  Marianna  Lang- 
staff  in  a  moved  voice,  and  catching  the 
small  cold  hands  covered  them  with  kisses, 
while  Davie  stood  beneath  the  show  of 
emotion  very  much  as  an  embarrassed  boy 
might  have  done. 

"  I  'm  sorry  to  have  excited  you  all  like 
this,  and  to  have  dragged  poor  Gran —  I 
mean  Gavin  up  there  through  the  storm. 
I  did  n't  dream  it  would  get  dark  so  soon, 
and  the  Point  was  much  farther  than  I 
thought.  I  could  n't  bear  to  turn  back 
without  the  flowers.  ...  Is  there  any 
witch  hazel  in  the  house,  I  wonder?" 

"Are  you  bruised,  dearest?"  they 
chorused. 

"  Bruised  ?  Well,  I  should  think  so.  I 
look  like  a  liver-spotted  dog,  I'm  sure. 
[186] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


I  know  Gran —  I  mean  Gavin  must  need 
witch  hazel  too." 

Miss  Marianna  nodded  till  the  dragons 
of-  gold  on  her  white  kimono  seemed 
wriggling  off  the  shoulders.  And  with 
most  minute  instructions  gave  Davie  a 
little  push  and  told  her  to  run  along  and 
begin  to  take  care  of  herself.  Then  she 
caught  her  back  for  an  instant,  and  draw- 
ing her  down  beside  her,  murmured 
poignantly:  "If  Gavin  had  lost  you, 
child!" 


[187] 


CHAPTER  TEN 


"  A  lovely  Ladie  rode  himfaire  beside 

Upon  a  lowly  Asse  more  white  than  snow." 


CHAPTER  TEN 

iMOBODY  was  particularly  cheerful  the 
next  day.  David  Bessire  felt  stiff  and  irri- 
table and  had  a  cold  beside.  Mrs.  Tellant 
was  suffering  so  from  the  exposure  that 
she  spent  the  morning  in  bed.  Davie's 
knees  were  black  and  blue  and  her  throat 
sore,  and  Langstaff  was  worn  and  cross  and 
fast  becoming  desperate  over  the  situation. 
Not  a  word  from  Bella,  and  his  aunt  de- 
claring she  would  be  out  of  bed  to-morrow ! 
Growing  excited  as  the  day  wore  away 
he  urged  Gockran  to  go  down  and  visit  all 
the  offices  at  the  Springs  and  Manitou  to 
see  if  by  some  chance  a  message  had  not 
been  overlooked,  and  Gockran  had  departed 
not  unwillingly  since  the  tense  state  of 
affairs  at  the  bungalow  was  not  conducive 
to  ease  of  spirit. 

[MM] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


The  last  cog  of  the  afternoon  came  up 
without  him,  however,  and  Langstaff  was 
forced  to  conclude  that  he  had  sent  another 
wire  to  Bella  and  was  staying  over  in  the 
hope  an  answer  would  arrive  that  night. 
The  sun  was  now  setting,  and  the  Peak 
looked  like  a  huge  inverted  bowl  of  copper, 
the  signal  station  like  a  small  black  in- 
crustation upon  it.  The  usual  burro  party 
straggled  down  the  trail,  the  shouts  and 
laughter,  the  smacks  which  were  smartly 
administered  to  the  reluctant  little  beasts 
sounding  lustily. 

David  Bessire  sat  in  that  corner  of  the 
upper  porch  which  he  had  appropriated, 
the  cards  spread  on  the  table  before  him 
for  a  game  of  solitaire.  Davie  lay  curled 
up  on  the  couch  outside  the  sick  room 
door, "and  Langstaff  was  within,  reading  to 
his  aunt.  Kam  Yim's  dinner  spoke  elo- 
quently in  drifting  odors  that  made  Davie 
smile  and  whisper  to  her  grandfather  that 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


it  was  a  pity  Benjamin  Gockran  should 
miss  it. 

He  nodded  absently,  his  mind  on  the 
cavds  —  all  of  it  except  that  subconscious 
part  which  kept  puzzling  over  the  non- 
appearance  of  Bella  Kaye.  He  played  his 
next  card,  then  sat  for  an  instant  after, 
his  brown  forefinger  on  it,  distracted  by 
another  disturbing  thought:  did  Langstaff 
love  Davie .  He  had  asked  himself  the  ques- 
tion a  dozen  times  since  the  night  before. 

"  Good  gad,  but  things  do  get  twisted 
in  this  world !  "  he  said  to  himself,  recall- 
ing the  look  in  LangstafFs  face  when  he 
had  come  up  out  of  the  mist  with  the  girl. 

Davie,  meanwhile,  sat  up  as  if  she  were 
galvanized,  staring  down  the  trail  in  wide- 
eyed  astonishment.  Then  with  a  smothered 
exclamation  she  slid  off  the  couch  and  ran 
to  the  sick-room  door.  It  was  as  dark  as 
usual — as  dark  as  they  wisely  insisted  upon 
keeping  it.  The  bandage  —  upon  which 
i3  [  198  ] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


they  also  insisted — was  pushed  back  from 
Miss  Langstaff's  eyes  and  she  lay  looking 
fondly  at  her  nephew  as  he  read  to  her. 

' '  Gavin,  can  you  come  here  a  minute  ?  " 
asked  Davie,  shaking  with  excitement,  but 
managing  to  keep  it  out  of  her  voice. 

"What  is  it?  "he  cried,  coming  out  to 
her,  the  thrill  of  her  agitation  imparting 
itself  to  him. 

She  pointed  tragically  to  the  trail. 

' '  Bella  ! "  he  cried.      ' '  Bella  !  " 

"Bella?"  questioned  Mrs.  Tellant, 
emerging  from  her  chamber  door  at  the 
moment. 

"  Bella!  "  whispered  old  David  Bessire, 
in  immense  relief;  and  they  went  tiptoe- 
ing down  the  stairs  to  the  lower  porch. 

On  the  trail  below  a  small  gray  iburro 
was  planted  like  a  grim  statuette.  Upon 
him  sat  a  black-haired  girl,  stiff  with 
exasperation,  while  large,  determined,  and 
perspiring  Benjamin  Gockran  stood  be- 


Upon  him  sat  a  black-haired  girl,  stiff  with  exasperation 

Page  194 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


hind  him,  his  two  palms  to  the  animal's 
rump,  just  ready  to  boost  him  bodily  up 
the  incline.  His  own  beast,  released  for 
the  moment,  stuck  his  soft  muzzle  to- 
ward Cockran's  pocket,  in  which  there 
was  no  doubt  something  to  eat,  sniffing 
investigatmgly . 

A  ripple  of  amusement,  no  more  to  be 
suppressed  than  the  lapping  of  the  surf  on 
the  beach,  ran  down  the  line  at  the  lower 
porch  rail,  and  in  that  exact  moment 
Bella  Kaye  looked  up. 

A  flash  of  lightning  in  the  face  could 
scarcely  have  been  more  blinding  than  the 
glance  she  focused  on  poor  Langstaff,  who 
recovering  himself  at  once  hurried  down 
to  meet  her,  as  the  burro,  once  more 
persuaded  on  its  way,  ambled  up  the  last 
incline  to  the  Skyland  steps. 

"  What  on  earth  are  you  doing  on 
these  burros?"  he  cried,  his  surprise 
ringing  in  his  voice. 

[-95] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


' '  What  would  you  have  had  us  arrive 
on  —  dromedaries  or  those  awful  saw- 
backed  horses  from  the  livery  stable  P " 
demanded  the  girl.  "Mr.  Gockran  had 
two  of  them  brought  round,  but  I  'd  have 
as  soon  thought  of  mounting  a  hip-roof." 

"  But  why  —  " 

"We  missed  the  cog,  and  we  couldn't 

fly.' 

She  slid  from  the  saddle  without  seeing 

the  hands  he  held  out  to  her  in  aid  and 

» 

welcome,  and  shaking  the  dust  from  her 
skirts  moved  briskly  up  the  steps.  At  the 
third  from  the  top  she  turned  and  waited 
for  him. 

"Who  are  these  people?"  she  de- 
manded in  a  voice  only  partially  lowered. 

"The  Bellas,"  said  he,  with  an  effort 
at  humor  and  equilibrium.  "All  but  the 
man,  you  know." 

Benjamin  Gockran  padded  softly  past 
them  up  the  steps,  and  the  others,  seeing 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


themselves  under  scrutiny,  withdrew  from 
the  railing. 

"  \Yhatever  do  you  mean?"  sternly  de- 
manded the  real  Bella. 

' '  Gockran  has  told  you  how  affairs 
stand,  surely?" 

' '  He  gave  me  a  slight  idea,  but  I  had  n't 
imagined  anything  so  utterly  farcical. 
Your  poor  aunt  must  be  quite  senile  to  be 
put  upon  like  this  1  ...  Don't  ask  me  to 
meet  these  women  until  I  've  washed. 
I  'm  as  dusty  as  a  mummy.  May  I  go  to 
my  room  at  once  ?  " 

' '  As  soon  as  we  've  had  a  word  together 
in  the  living  room  !  I  want  you  to  under- 
stand." 

' '  Oh,  I  understand  perfectly.  You  were 
always  theatric.  It  was  like  you  to  have 
conceived  this  thing,  and  I  dare  say  you  've 
found  it  very  amusing.  Perhaps  I  've 
arrived  too  soon  ?  " 

They  had  entered  the  room  and  closing 

[  '97] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


the  door  he  stood  with  his  hand  on  the 
knob,  facing  her.  "My  dear  Bella,  do 
let  me  explain,"  he  begged. 

"  Don't  go  into  it  now,  I  pray.  What 
I  want  at  the  minute  is  soap  —  soap  and 
plenty  of  water." 

' 4  We  must  really  speak  together  seri- 
ously for  a  moment." 

"Well,  then,  what  is  it  you  want  to 
say?  Do  be  quick  about  it."  She  ached 
from  the  ride  and  had  a  slight  headache 
and  loathed  the  taste  of  dust  in  her  mouth 
and  the  feel  of  it  on  her  lashes. 

' '  Do  you  expect  me  to  whisk  it  out,  like 
a  rabbit  from  a  hat?"  he  cried;  he  too 
was  cross  and  worn  and  not  patient. 
"  There  hasn't  been  a  very  clear  under- 
standing between  us,  but  we've  both 
known  that  some  day  we'd  marry.  If 
we  have  delayed  it,  it's  been  because  —  " 

' '  Because  neither  of  us  was  in  any 
hurry  to  hasten  it,"  she  put  in. 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"  Er  —  perhaps,  but  we  haven't  de- 
ferred it,  I  'm  sure  you  '11  agree,  —  because 
of  any  real  disinclination,  but  through  a 
failure  to  comprehend  how  much  we  were 
—  er  —  missing.  Yet  I'm  sure  we've 
both  felt  all  along  that  when  the  time 
came  we'd  be  very  happy  and  contented 
together." 

"In  short,"  said  she,  with  a  peculiar 
little  smile,  "that  we'd  know  how  to 
make  the  best  of  a  bad  joke.  Don't  con- 
tradict, and  don't  try  to  '  emote,'  Gavin. 
We've  got  on  well  enough  without  any 
frills  of  sentiment,  so  what's  the  use  of 
tacking  them  on  now?" 

' '  If  we  have  been  entirely  indifferent  — 
if  you  have  been  so,  and  I  had  guessed  it, 
I'd  never  have  asked  you  to  come  to  me, 
Bella,"  he  said  earnestly. 

"  Oh,  that's  all  right.  I'm  glad  you 
sent.  Glad  to  come.  If  this  had  n't 
happened  we  'd  have  put  off  the  marriage 
[  '99] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


indefinitely,  no  doubt,  and  to  tell  you 
the  truth,  I  begin  to  want  a  home  of  my 
own.  I  'm  tired  of  single  blessedness. 
I'll  do  my  best  by  you,  and  you'll  do 
your  best  by  me.  And  we'll  get  along 
splendidly,  no  doubt.  Now  where 's  that 
soap  and  water  ?" 

' '  You  forget  there  is  a  fact  or  two  to  get 
out  of  the  waj  before  you  see  Auntie,"  he 
smiled .  ' '  About  the  marriage ,  you  know . ' ' 

"That's  so,  —  when  are  we  to  be 
married  ?" 

"  To-morrow,  if  you  will." 

"  As  well  then  as  any  time,"  said  she. 

' '  But  remember  that  to  Aunt  Marianna 
we  are  already  married,  you  know,"  he 
reminded  her. 

"  What!  She  has  to  know  the  truth 
in  the  end,  why  not  give  it  to  her  now  ?" 

' '  She  is  n't  well   enough    to  stand  it, 
and  besides  there's   no  use  in    her    ever 
knowing  just  how  things  have  been.     She 
[  aoo  ] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


— er  —  doesn't  take  a  joke  well,  you 
know." 

Bella  pursed  her  red  lips.  "You 
need  n't  expect  me  to  enter  into  this  thing, 
Gavin.  I  hate  deceit.  I  '11  marry  you  to- 
morrow if  it  can  be  arranged,  but  until 
then  I  won't  pretend  to  be  married  to  you, 
not  for  your  sake,  or  your  aunt's,  or  any- 
body's concerned.  It 's  no  use  to  argue. 
You  know  my  principles.  .  .  .  Where  is 
that  soap  ?  " 

"  But,  by  George,  can't  you  see  what 
this  does  ?  "  he  exclaimed.  "  It  puts  me 
in  a  very  devil  of  a  fix." 

Her  laugh  ran  like  a  rapier  through 
the  air:  "  It  seems  to  me  you've  put 
yourself  in  one,"  said  she,  and  moved 
toward  the  door.  "What  time  do  you 
have  dinner?" 

A  few  minutes  later  David  Bessire  came 
into  the  room  and  finding  Langstaff  pac- 

[301   ] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


ing  it  perturbedly  was  told  just  how  mat- 
ters stood. 

' '  A  pretty  state  she  'd  throw  your  aunt 
in  by  her  virtuous  disclosures,"  he  sput- 
tered. "Would  you  mind  turning  the 
young  lady  over  to  me  to  see  what  I  can 
do  with  her?"  he  inquired,  a  humorous 
smile  playing  beneath  the  hemp-colored 
mustache.  "  Trot  along  somewhere  and 
leave  us  together  when  she  comes  down. 
I'll  promise  to  do  no  harm,  if  I 
don't  succeed  with  her.  But  I  've  had 
some  experience  and —  Go  along," 
and  he  pushed  Langstaff  toward  the 
door. 

When  Bella  came  down  a  few  minutes 
later,  looking  fresh  and  rather  mannish  in 
her  severely  tailored  things,  it  was  to  find 
him  reading  there.  At  her  entrance  he 
arose  and  made  her  a  bow  so  elaborate  it 
amused  her. 

' '  Someone  should  be  here  to  present 
[  202  ] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


me,"  he  said,  "but  as  they  are  not,  I 
shall  have  to  present  myself.  I  am  David 
Bessire,  grandfather  to  one  of  the  Bellas. 
I'm  glad  to  be  the  first,  except  Langstaff 
himself,  to  tell  you  how  welcome  you  are. 
Maybe  you  can  fancy  how  we've  awaited 
you?" 

' '  I  should  not  imagine  the  time  had 
passed  tediously,"  observed  she. 

"  My  dear  lady,"  said  he,  with  a  humor- 
ous twinkle,  as  he  placed  her  a  chair,  "  we 
have  sat  on  the  edge  of  Vesuvius,  antici- 
pating an  eruption  at  any  minute." 

4 '  Do  you  expect  me  to  take  you  out  of 
harm's  way?"  she  asked,  a  glint  in  her 
eyes.  "I'm  sorry  to  seem  unaccommo- 
dating, but  the  fact  is  I'm  going  to  let  you 
get  yourselves  out  of  danger,  Mr.  Bessire. 
The  volcano  isn't  of  my  making,  you 
know." 

"  Believe  me,  nobody  knows  just  how 
it  came  about,"  he  urged.  "  Where  there 
[208] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


was  a  pleasant  level  country,  presto,  there 
it  spurts !" 

"To  speak  without  figures,  I  believe  in 
honesty,"  said  she. 

' '  In  moderation,  —  only  in  moderation, 
Miss  Kaye." 

'  *  There  can  be  no  excess  of  honesty, "  she 
cried,  flying  open  somewhat  as  a  jack- 
knife. 

' '  What !  Not !  Oh,  yes  indeed,  it 's  the 
most  harmful  excess  in  the  world." 

She  crossed  her  knees  with  energy, 
and  leaned  to  him,  her  face  full  of 
color. 

' '  It  is  absurd  to  say  that  honesty  may  be 
qualified;  if  it  is  honesty,  it's  honesty,  if 
it  isn't,  it  is —  " 

"  Kindliness,"  promptly  supplied  he. 

' '  We  have  different  ways  of  considering 
it,"  she  said  with  tight  lips. 

"Better  the  lie  more  than  the  lie  less, 
believe  me.  We  old  fellows  know  that 
[ao4] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


galling  guns  can  do  no  more  damage 
than  what  some  folk  call  rugged  honesty. 
Humanity  is  the  thing,  and  humanity 
means  honesty  and  dishonesty.  It  does  n't 
mean  hyper-virtuousness . ' ' 

Over  her  swart  keen  face  the  color 
rushed :  ' '  Perhaps  you  'd  better  not  tell  me 
any  more  of  your  astonishing  doctrines. 
I  've  no  patience  with  '  moral  legerde- 


> » 
main. 


"  Nor  I,  madam,  but  I  do  believe  in  an 
occasional  shifting  of  the  truth.  Take,  for 
instance,  the  little  deception  which  is  be- 
ing carried  on  here.  Any  disclosure  now 
would  be  probably  disastrous.  Things 
must  remain  exactly  as  they  are.  Take  my 
word  for  it,  there  is  nothing  for  you  to  do 
but  to  fall  in  gracefully  with  the  plan. 
Miss  LangstafFs  recovery  must  not  be 
jeopardized.  There  must  be  no  state  of 
turmoil —  Ah,  Davie,  come  in.  Let  me 
present  you  to  the  real  Bella.  Miss  Kaye, 
ao5 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


this  is  the  other  Bella,  the  second  Bella,  I 
may  say." 

Davie  stood  in  the  door  looking  crumpled 
and  flushed.  After  shaking  hands  cordially 
with  the  newcomer  she  explained,  as  she 
preened  a  little,  that  Miss  Langstaff  had 
fallen  asleep  with  her  head  on  her  shoulder 
and  had  mussed  her  up  a  bit,  whereat 
Bella  remarked  somewhat  drily  that  her 
interpretation  of  the  Bella  role  was  pretty 
but  not  quite  accurate,  she  was  afraid,  — 
conveying  that  friendly  shoulders  and  tired 
heads  were  not  exactly  in  her  line. 

"  Miss  Kaye  and  I  have  just  been  dis- 
cussing the  situation,  Davie,"  said  David 
Bessire,  "  and  I  have  been  telling  her  how 
imperative  it  is  for  Miss  Langstaff  to  remain 
in  ignorance  of  the  state  of  affairs." 

"  Oh,  by  all  means  !  " 

"  I  cannot  see  it  that  way,"  said  Bella, 
with  a  shake  of  the  head.  In  some 
women  that  sidewise  movement  of  the 
[206] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


head  means  little,  in  others,  much,  — 
in  Bella  Kaye  it  meant  everything.  "  If 
it  comes  to  a  question  between  her  physical 
anil  my  moral  health,  I  must  decide  in 
favor  of  the  latter,"  said  she. 

"  She  is  right,  sir!  "  boomed  a  voice  at 
the  open  door,  and  Benjamin  Cockran 
stood  there,  his  face  shining  from  water  and 
soap  and  approval  of  the  sentiment  just  ex- 
pressed, his  hair  more  nobly  tossed  than 
ever,  his  body  arrayed  in  a  suit  blacker 
and  finer  than  ordinary,  his  big  head 
nodding  solemnly  like  the  head  of  a  cotton 
lamb. 

David  Bessire  and  his  granddaughter 
exchanged  eloquent  glances. 

' '  Honesty  is  the  best — the  only  policy," 
said  Gockran. 

"  It  is,  indeed,  Mr.  Gockran,"  murmured 
Bella  Kaye,  and  in  that  moment  she  sug- 
gested nothing  so  much  to  Bessire  as  the 
small  gray  burro  sitting  stubbornly  down 
[207] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


on  the  trail.  As  he  stared  at  her,  longing 
to  do  something  to  her  bodily,  he  had  an 
illuminating  flash. 

' '  Permit  a  suggestion , ' '  said  he .  "  Sup- 
pose that  until  the  marriage  takes  place, 
my  granddaughter  continues  at  her  post. 
In  this  way  the  invalid  will  be  spared  the 
shock  of  revelation,  and  at  the  same  time 
Miss  Kaye's  excellent  spiritual  health  will 
be  unimpaired.  Do  you  see?" 

Bella  considered  while  Davie  bit  her  lips 
in  vexation  at  the  virtue  embodied  in  these 
two  who  stood  looking  at  each  other,  having 
thus  speedily  discovered  that  they  were 
kindred  souls. 

"I  believe  that  Mr.  Bessire  is  right," 
said  Benjamin  Cockran  at  last.  "The 
doctor  has  said  —  " 

' '  Don't  tell  me  what  the  doctor  says  I 
I'll  do  as  my  conscience  dictates,"  snapped 
Bella. 

A  moment  of  strained  silence  fell,  broken 
[208] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


by  the  rustle  of  silken  skirts  as  Mrs .  Tellant 
swept  in,  and  extended  a  hand  to  the  new- 
comer. 

""The  third  Bella,"  said  David  Bessire, 
with  a  bow  and  a  smile. 


209 


CHAPTER  ELEVEN 


'  'Life  and  love  and  death  all  come 
Without  sound  of  step  or  drum, 
Without  herald,  without  word 
They  come  unheard." 


CHAPTER  ELEVEN 

second  thought  Bella  decided  that  it 
would  be  wiser  to  postpone  the  wedding 
until  the  day  following,  so  that  she  might 
become  acquainted  with  the  household 
and  its  management  before  assuming  her 
new  duties.  To  this  plan  it  was  not  diffi- 
cult to  gain  Langstaff's  consent,  although 
he  accepted  the  postponement  apatheti- 
cally, since  it  was  only  respite,  not  re- 
prieve. Meanwhile  Bella  and  Benjamin 
were  busy  with  plans  for  the  wedding 
feast.  Indeed  so  engrossed  did  they  be- 
come in  recipes  and  menus  that  it  was 
difficult  to  dig  either  of  them,  even  tempo- 
rarily, from  the  sticky  pages  of  Yim's 
cook-books. 

Davie    continued    at    Miss    Langstaff's 
bed,  using  persuasion  to  keep  that  rapidly 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


improving  little  lady  from  hopping  out 
and  into  her  clothes,  but  she  succeeded  in 
exacting  a  promise  from  her  to  remain 
just  one  day  longer,  and  Langs taff,  learn- 
ing that  nothing  could  keep  her  there 
beyond  that  time,  made  ready  for  his 
bride. 

It  was  expedient  that  Bella's  belongings 
should  be  moved  into  the  room  adjoining 
his, — the  room  his  wife  would  naturally 
occupy, — and  while  she  helped  Cockran 
plan  the  spread  and  kept  Yim  dancing 
attendance  on  her,  he  carried  over  her 
bags,  the  little  dressing  table,  and  an  easy 
chair  or  two  from  the  room  she  now 
occupied.  There  was  a  short  kimona  on 
the  back  of  one  of  the  chairs,  her  toilet 
articles  were  on  the  dressing  table,  and  her 
slippers  by  the  bed.  The  intimacy  of  it 
all  filled  him  with  actual  recoil.  It  was 
hideous  that  he  should  feel  like  this,  he 
told  himself,  but  it  swept  him  to  his 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


foundations  and  he  was  utterly  powerless 
before  it. 

He  heard  her  talking  with  Cockran  on 
the  porch  below,  her  voice  as  flat  as  her 
heels,  and  presently  she  went  down  the 
steps,  passing  into  his  line  of  vision  and 
stopping  to  break  off  a  bough  of  scrub 
oak,  and  he  hated  the  squareness  of  her 
body  and  the  sleekness  of  her  hair,  — 
hated  her  when  to-morrow  he  must  take 
her  in  his  arms  and  begin  his  unending 
pretense  of  affection  for  her !  In  that 
moment  he  could  have  fled  from  her  in 
very  horror. 

But  his  saner  self  had  no  such  thought. 
By  every  sense  of  honor  he  was  bound  to 
her  inexorably.  Impulse  would  have 
thrust  him  from  her,  but  reason  held  him 
and  his  will  never  wavered.  Mechanically 
he  carried  the  flowers  he  had  gathered  for 
her  and  put  them  on  her  dressing  table, 
giving  a  last  careful  glance  about  to  see 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


that  all  was  as  it  should  be.  Then  he 
hurried  out. 

If  Davie  were  coming  to  him  !  If  it 
were  for  her  he  had  gathered  the  flowers ! 
The  persistent  thought  of  her  had  become 
a  torment.  He  pulled  himself  resolutely 
together,  determined  to  be  rid  of  it, 
else  presently  she  would  become  im- 
pressed on  the  very  air,  so  that  wher- 
ever he  looked  he  would  see  her,  and 
wherever  he  walked  she  would  walk  beside 
him. 

He  ran  down  the  steps  to  join  the 
others,  and  found  Bella  standing  for  the 
moment  alone,  beating  the  oak  leaves 
against  her  skirt.  She  looked  up  at 
him  with  gracious  eyes,  and  he  thought 
he  had  not  seen  her  so  approachable 
since  her  arrival.  —  she  looked  almost 
happy. 

"We've  made  the  very  nicest  menu," 
she  said  enthusiastically.  "Mr.  Gockran 
[316] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


is  quite  delighted.  How  clever  he  is 
about  such  things  I  There  is  to  be  — 
shall  I  tell  you  about  it?  Well,  then, 
there's  to  be  soup,  of  course,  fish,  an 
entree,  chicken  a  la  Maryland,  biscuits,  a 
magnificent  cake,  and  a  dozen  things 
which  are  to  be  a  surprise.  I  knew 
you  'd  be  relieved  to  have  us  take  the 
matter  off  your  hands." 

"Yes,  I'm  worthless  at  such  things. 
Ben's  good  at  it,  is  n't  he?" 

"  Splendid.  I  never  saw  anything  like 
it.  It's  quite  extraordinary  to  find  a  man 
so  interested.  .  .  .  About  the  minister. 
Whom  are  we  to  have?" 

"I  'd  like  to  have  Dr.  Wheatley  marry 
us.  He  is  an  old  friend  of  my  father's, 
who  happens  to  be  staying  with  some 
friends  just  across  the  mountain.  I 
thought  perhaps  Ben —  Here  he  is  now. 
We'll  ask  him.  I  say,  Ben,  would  you 
mind  riding  over  early  in  the  morning 
[217] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


and  bringing  Dr.  Wheatley  back  with 
you  ?  He  is  staying  with  the  Stevenses, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  mountain." 

Gockran  nodded  absently,  and  went  pad- 
ding by,  his  nose  still  buried  in  a  cook- 
book. 

Walking  up  and  down  the  porch  with 
his  fiancee,  Langstaff  tried  desperately  to 
rise  to  the  occasion,  but  the  words  he 
forced  fell  like  chips  hewn  off  the  log  of 
abstraction,  and  he  wondered  if  she 
guessed  how  hard  it  was  for  him. 

He  had  not  long  to  wonder,  —  you 
never  had,  with  Bella. 

' '  We  are  an  eloquent  pair,  aren't  we? — 
and  our  wedding  day  to-morrow,"  said  she, 
with  an  odd,  sharp  laugh.  "  I  wonder  if 
there  was  ever  such  another  betrothal  and 
marriage  ? ' '  Something  approaching  wish- 
fulness  seemed  to  ring  in  the  tone,  but  he 
could  not  respond  to  it.  If  one  of  their 
lives  instead  of  the  happiness  of  them  both 
[a.8] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


had  depended  on  it  he  could  not  have 
deceived  her  then.  He  would  have  given 
worlds  to  have  had  it  otherwise,  to  have 
been  able  to  say  the  healing  word,  or  to 
have  looked  the  lie  his  lips  refused.  After 
they  were  married  he  would  make  amends 
somehow  for  his  coldness.  His  loyalty 
would  compensate,  in  part,  and  she  should 
have  everything  on  earth  she  wanted  and 
do  exactly  as  she  pleased. 

He  tried  to  say  something  of  this  to  her 
but  she  cut  him  short,  having  no  taste 
whatever  for  substitutions.  And  it  was  a 
relief  to  them  both  when  Gockran  emerged 
from  the  kitchen  hallway  and  asked  her  to 
come  and  confer  with  Yim.  Free  to  be 
off,  Langstaff  went  up  among  the  pines 
back  of  the  house.  He  was  in  no  mood 
for  companionship  and  he  was  afraid  that 
Genevra  Tellant,  trailing  her  draperies, 
would  descend  upon  him. 

He  was  sitting  at  the  foot  of  a  twisted 
[2I9] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


old  tree  a  half  hour  later  when  he  became 
conscious  of  a  figure  moving  up  the  hill 
along  the  bed  of  the  stream.  A  flash  of 
pale  blue  glinted  through  the  greenery  and 
then  Davie  came  into  view,  bearing  a  tray 
on  which  was  some  dainty  culinary  con- 
coction, which  she  was  evidently  carrying 
up  from  the  Brindleys'. 

The  scrub  oaks  made  an  effective  screen 
from  behind  which  he  watched  her,  the 
slim  little  body  lifting  lightly  from  stone 
to  stone,  with  indescribable  ease  and 
grace.  Had  the  dryads  worn  pale  blue, 
he  wondered  and,  what  need  had  they 
of  wings  when  women  moved  like  this 
without  them ! 

Then  a  loud  and  dismal  "wow!" 
alarmed  him,  and  he  sprang  up  to  see 
that  she  had  slipped  and  was  sitting  in 
the  furiously  hurrying  stream. 

"  Are  you  hurt  ?  "  he  shouted,  dashing 
down  to  her. 

[  220  ] 


Had  the  dryads  worn  pale  blue,  he  wondered,  and  what  need  had  they 
of  wings  when  women  moved  like  this  without  them  ! 

Page  220 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"  What  are  you  doing  here  ?  "  she  cried 
in  disgust  when  she  saw  him .  ' '  Why 
aren't  you  at  home  with  Bella?"  Her 
lugubriousness  would  have  amused  him 
if  he  had  not  been  anxious  for  her.  Run- 
ning out  on  the  rock  that  towered  above 
her  he  stooped  and,  lifting  her  bodily, 
carried  her  to  the  bank.  He  was  trem- 
bling as  he  released  her,  and  he  pushed 
her  almost  roughly  away. 

She  steadied  herself,  looking  at  him 
curiously. 

' '  Why  are  you  always  getting  yourself 
into  scrapes  ?  "  he  demanded  furiously. 

Her  astonished  eyes  widened  at  him. 

"  How  can  a  man  forget  such  things?" 
he  cried.  "The  feel  of  you — your  arms 
—  your  cheeks ,  your  — ' ' 

' '  You  don't  know  what  you  're  saying. 
Stop  !  "  said  she,  in  a  voice  that  quivered 
from  repression. 

"  Oh,  you  see  how  it  is  with  me!    You 

[221   ] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


can't  help  but  see  I  Why  did  n't  you 
come  before  ?" 

For  just  an  instant,  as  she  compre- 
hended, the  color  left  her  face.  She 
stood,  tempestuously  conscious  of  but  one 
thing :  he  loved  her  I  Then  voice  and 
gesture  came  under  her  swift  control, 
and  she  spoke  gently,  in  an  impetuous 
rush : 

"Yes,  yes,  I  see.  You  think  you  love 
me,  but —  " 

"Think!  My  God!" 

"It's  perfectly  natural,"  she  hurried 
on.  "  Don't  you  see  how  it  is?  You 
have  n't  been  with  Bella  for  so  long  that 
you've  grown  apart.  You  weren't  — 
were  n't  thinking  much  about  her  when 
I  came,  and  we  —  we  were  thrown  to- 
gether so  intimately,  and  so  you  —  you 
thought  about  me.  The  mind  has  to  be 
busy  with  some  one,  you  know." 

"Don't!"  he  said  impatiently.  "What's 
[  222  ] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


the  use  ?  You  don't  believe  that  any  more 
than  I  do." 

"  But  I  do.  I  do,"  she  insisted  rather 
wildly.  "  The  mind  is  just  like  an  ocean 
cave, — some  wave  or  other  has  to  wash  it. 
Did  n't  you  ever  think  of  that  ?  In  the 
nature  of  things  it  can't  stay  empty." 
Her  eyes  met  his  bravely  but  briefly, 
then  she  stooped  and  wrung  the  water 
out  of  her  skirts,  talking  on  without  an 
instant's  pause  about  other  things  :  how 
she  had  slipped,  the  rocks,  the  stream. 

"You  must  go  home,"  he  said  dully. 

**  In  a  minute.  Don't  worry  about  me. 
I'm  an  awful  sight,  but  —  but,"  with 
a  queer  little  laugh,  "maybe  it's  a  good 
thing,  if  you  '11  just  remember  me  as  I 
look  now."  And  she  stood  farther  away 
from  him  and  shook  herself  like  a  water 
spaniel.  Then  she  pointed  tragically  to 
the  stream. 

' '  Look  at  that  beautiful  '  Floating 
[228] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


Island '  that  Mrs.  Brindley  sent  your 
aunt!"  she  cried,  as  a  dish  of  creamy  yel- 
low stuff  with  little  fluffy  mounds  on  it 
went  sailing  gaily  down  the  stream  and 
wrecked  itself  against  a  bowlder.  But  the 
sight  of  it  brought  no  smile  to  his  face. 
She  regarded  him  anxiously  for  an  instant, 
then  returned  unflinchingly  to  the  subject 
she  had  hoped  to  push  away. 

"What  you've  got,"  said  she,  "is 
only  an  obsession.  It  won't  hurt  you, 
because  it  won't  last.  Take  my  word  for 
it.  For  goodness'  sake  don't  imagine  it's 
anything  serious.  Dear  me,  don't  you 
think  I  know  all  about  it  ?  Why,  I  've 
had  your  symptoms  a  dozen  times  any- 
way." 

She  put  out  a  sodden  foot  and  moved 
the  toes  expansively,  whereat  a  stream  of 
water  ran  from  the  heel  of  her  shoe. 

"  Go  right  home  and  stop  thinking 
about  it,"  said  she.  "This  isn't  going 

[324] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


to  hurt  anybody  concerned.  I  'm  a  mighty, 
mighty  little  wave,  and  Bella  will  chase 
me  clear  out  to  sea.  The  first  thing  you 
know  —  without  knowing  —  you'll  have 
forgotten  all  about  me."  She  gave  a  last 
wring  to  her  drabbled  skirts,  and  stood 
up,  shaking  herself  again  and  blowing  the 
hair  out  of  her  eyes.  "  I  '11  go  back  to  the 
Brindleys'  and  get  some  dry  things,"  she 
said.  "Make  some  excuse  to  your  aunt 
for  me,  and  do,  do  be  sensible  about  this, 
won't  you?" 

He  smiled  at  her  miserably. 

"Never  mind  me.  .  .  .  You'll  take 
your  death  of  cold,"  he  muttered. 

"  Oh,  no,  I  won't.  I  'm  the  healthiest 
animal  you  ever  saw." 

"I  can't  let  you  go  like  this,"  he  cried, 
as  she  turned  to  go.  "At  least  tell  me 
that  you  forgive  me,"  and  he  held  out  his 
hand  to  her  appealingly. 

' '  Forgive  you  ?  Now  don't  be  ab- 
'5  [  225  ] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


surd.  There  's  nothing  to  forgive.  But 
I  'm  not  going  to  shake  hands  with  you. 
There  are  times  when  —  when — it  would 
be  tempting  disaster  to  shake  hands,"  and 
she  ran  scrambling  through  the  bushes, 
her  wet  skirts  swishing  about  her  ankles. 
Just  as  she  was  disappearing  she  turned 
and  waved  gaily,  calling  back  to  him  : 
"  Mind,  you  are  not  to  worry." 

She  skurried  on  again  to  the  end  of  the 
trail,  where  as  she  emerged,  she  ran  into 
her  grandfather  who  was  beginning  a 
leisurely  ascent.  He  dropped  back  from 
her  in  amazement  as  she  plumped  into 
him. 

' '  What  have  you  been  doing  to  your- 
self ?"  he  demanded.  "  You  are  a  sight." 

"  I  'm  glad  of  it,"  snapped  she. 

She  had  left  a  stain  on  the  sleeve  of  his 
white  flannel  coat  and  as  he  carefully  re- 
moved it  he  glanced  up  at  her,  arrested 
at  the  tone. 

[226] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


' '  What 's  the  matter  ?  "  he  urged. 

"Matter?  It  doesn't  make  you  feel 
particularly  cheerful  to  fall  into  a  creek, 
does  it?"  she  clicked.  "I  was  carrying 
something  up  to  Miss  Langstaff,  —  Mary 
had  made  something  particularly  nice,  and 
I  fell." 

"Humph.  Too  bad.  .  .  .  The  Brind- 
leys  are  coming  up  to  the  wedding,  you 
know." 

She  made  no  comment.  She  was  busy 
with  her  skirt — over  busy,  in  fact.  He 
flipped  his  glasses  onto  his  nose  and  scru- 
tinized her  searchingly,  but  the  top  of  a 
tousled  head  does  not  reveal  a  great  deal, 
even  to  eyes  as  keen  as  his. 

"Anybody  see  you  fall?"  he  asked, 
with  what  appeared  to  be  irrelevancy. 

"  Gav —  I  mean  Mr.  Langstaff." 

' '  Pshaw  !      No  wonder  you  were  per- 
turbed.    But  never  mind,  — he's  as  good 
as  married,  you  know." 
[  227] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


She  nodded,  still  bending  over  the  drip- 
ping skirt. 

' '  I  suppose  the  whole  place  will  be 
decked  out  with  wedding  trappings  to- 
morrow," he  went  on,  singularly  careless 
of  her  comfort  in  that  he  detained  her  in 
her  soaked  garments.  "  Goodness  knows 
what  basis  of  companionship  there  will  be 
between  LangstafF  and  that  girl  Bella." 

She  straightened  with  a  little  blind 
gesture. 

"  I  must  go,"  she  said. 

*'  Davie,  look  at  me  1" 

Davie  held  herself  very  straight,  her 
lips  un quivering.  There  was  the  pretty 
back-tilt  of  the  head  that  he  liked,  the  gal- 
lant control  worthy  of  her,  he  said  to 
himself,  but — Davie  did  not  look  at  him, 
and  a  strangling  sense  of  disaster  swept 
him. 

"Let  me  see  your  eyes,  child,"  he 
begged. 

[228] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"  No,"  cried  she,  "no,  no!" 

"  Look  at  me,"  he  commanded,  his  old 
voice  grown  suddenly  weak.  "  Look  at 
me,  honey.  Look  at  grandfather." 

A  broken  breath  left  her.  Slowly  she 
turned,  and  the  eyes  of  his  own  youth 
lifted  to  him  in  her  little  brown  face:  it 
was  but  natural  that  he  should  be  able 
to  read  them. 

4 '  Davie  !   No  ?  "  he  protested. 

"  Yes!"  sobbed  she,  and  flung  away 
from  him. 

For  a  long  time  after  she  had  gone  he 
stood,  leaning  there  as  one  stricken,  and 
indeed  fate  had  wounded  him  where  he 
was  most  vulnerable.  Bewilderedly  he 
regarded  the  shaft.  His  pain  was  all  for 
her  pain.  His  remorse  that  he  had  not 
contrived  to  avert  her  suffering.  Where 
had  his  vigilance  been  that  he  had  not 
foreseen  this  thing  which  had  happened? 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


His  care  had  failed  her  I  Now  it  was  too 
late  to  lift  a  finger  for  her  happiness.  Yet 
—  was  it? 

"He  loves  her.  .  .  .  They  love  each 
other,"  he  said  to  himself.  And  again  the 
question  repeated  itself  in  his  heart:  "  Is 
it  too  late?" 

He  moved  up  the  hill,  a  trim  and  mili- 
tant figure. 

"Certainly  not,"  said  he,  when  he 
neared  the  Sky  land.  "  Certainly  not." 


[280] 


CHAPTER  TWELVE 


' '  I  have  conniv'd  at  this.    .    .    . 
But  what  is  got  by  this  connivancy?  " 


CHAPTER   TWELVE 

"HE-HAW!  He-haw!  He-haw!"  The 
duo  of  brays  split  the  peaceful  morn- 
ing air. 

"What  the  devil  do  you  want?"  de- 
manded Tom  Brindley  out  of  his  chamber 
window. 

"I  don't  want  anything,"  replied  Ben- 
jamin Cockran,  looming  large  on  the 
back  of  the  greater  burro  and  leading  the 
small  gray  one.  "  I  suppose  these  ani- 
mals only  mean  to  be  neighborly  with 
their  morning  greeting.  Sorry  if  we 
wakened  you." 

Brindley  emitted  a  faintly  polite  laugh : 
it  was  four  o'clock  and  the  baby  was  just 
beginning  to  let  him  get  in  his  best  licks. 

"He-haw!  He-haw'  He-haw!"  re- 
iterated the  burros. 

t'33] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"  Muzzle 'em,  can't  you?"  suggested 
Brindley. 

"What's  up?"  cried  David  Bessire 
from  his  bedroom  window.  He  had 
spent  the  night  here,  giving  up  his  room 
at  the  Sky  land  to  Bella. 

"I'm  up,  worse  luck,"  growled  Cock- 
ran.  "I  'm  on  my  way  for  the  preacher, 
This  is  the  wedding  day,  you  know." 

"Wait  a  minute.  I'll  come  down," 
said  Bessire,  hastily. 

"So  will  I,"  said  Brindley,  and  they 
emerged  simultaneously,  one  in  blue  pa- 
jamas, one  in  tan.  Tom  Brindley 's  had 
a  button  or  two  missing  and  his  feet  were 
thrust  into  battered  slippers  that  had  seen 
faithful  service  throughout  his  son's  teeth- 
ing period,  'and  he  rubbed  his  eyes  and 
slouched  a  good  deal  as  if  he  needed  the 
day  to  rouse  him,  while  David  Bessire 
was  exactly  as  wide  awake  and  as  alert  as 
usual.  His  feet  showed  in  delicate  suede 
[=.34] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


the  exact  color  of  his  pajamas,  his  hair  was 
smooth,  and  he  carried  himself  with  erect- 
ness  and  decision. 

Behind  the  softly  moving  curtains  of  the 
window  which  Brindley  had  just  quitted 
there  was  a  suggestion  of  a  feminine 
presence  —  something  felt  rather  than 
seen. 

"Too  bad  to  rout  you  out  like  this," 
said  Cockran,  "  but  the  donkeys  made  a 
straight  set-to  for  your  place  the  minute 
they  saw  it,  and  heaven  and  earth  couldn't 
stop  'em.  I  suppose  they  thought  you'd 
welcome  the  opportunity  to  renew  your 
felicitations.  Of  course  you  are  all  going 
up  for  the  wedding.  It's  to  be  at  one 
o'clock,  you  know.  I  ought  to  get  the 
preacher  back  by  eleven.  That'll  give  him 
time  to  rest  up  a  bit." 

"Haven't  they  hurried  the  wedding  a 
little?"  asked  Brindley. 

"  Hurried   it?"    Gockran's   laugh  rang 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


heavily.  "  They've  been  engaged  since 
they  were  children.  You  don't  call  that 
hurrying  it,  do  you  ?  If  I  had  been  in 
his  place  — "  he  broke  off  discreetly, 
reddening  and  readjusting  himself  in  the 
saddle.  "  He 's  a  lucky  chap,  that 's  all  I  've 
got  to  say  about  it."  He  gave  them  a 
glance  of  something  approaching  defiance, 
and  lifted  the  reins.  "  Well,  I  must  be 
off.  Git  ap,  Jenny  !  "  and  he  slapped  the 
red  burro  soundly. 

It  started  forward  as  the  little  gray 
swayed  backward. 

"  Smack  that  fellow,  will  you?"  roared 
Cockran.  "He  is  the  most  reluctant  little 
beast  I  ever  saw." 

Brindley  smacked,  but  the  gray  only 
blinked  sadly,  while  Bessire  and  the 
feminine  presence  behind  the  curtain 
chuckled  with  laughter.  Still  the  burro 
inclined  backward  and  still  Brindley 
smacked.  Then  Bessire  lifted  his  suede- 
t'36] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


clad  foot,   and  the  burro,  divining  like  a 
flash,  lifted  his. 

"Take  care!"  shrieked  the  feminine 
presence. 

"He's  got  to  move,"  shouted  Brindley. 

"Try  this." 

A  large  palm  leaf  fan  fluttered  out  of 
the  window,  whereupon  Brindley  doubled 
up  silently  on  a  rock,  rolling  gently  from 
side  to  side. 

"  Good  Lord,  Mary,"  he  gasped,  "it's 
not  the  burro  that's  hot." 

Over  the  mesa  the  sun  shone  brightly, 
but  it  had  not  yet  peeped  into  the 
canon.  The  breeze  was  here,  however. 
It  fluttered  Benjamin  Cockran's  hair,  the 
fringes  and  tassels  of  Brindley's  pajamas, 
and  the  superfluous  fulness  of  David 
Bessire's. 

"  Wait,  and  I'll  get  a  shovel  and  scoop 
him  along,"  cried  Brindley,   shivering  as 
the  wind  lapped  him,  whereupon  he  liter- 
[237] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


ally  dumped  the  burro  on  his  way  with  a 
huge  coal  shovel. 

"Heavens,  how  you've  mussed  him 
up,"  giggled  Mary  from  the  window. 
' '  Where  he  was  only  gray  he's  perfectly 
black  I" 

"  It  is  n't  anything  to  what  that  preacher 
will  be  when  he  gets  there,"  said  Brindley. 
' '  Hate  to  have  my  marriage  depending  on 
such  a  beast.  He  may  delay  the  ceremony 
for  hours." 

David  Bessire  nodded  absently.  Many 
things  were  troubling  him.  He  was  old 
but  he  had  not  forgotten  what  pain  love 
can  bring,  and  he  knew  only  too  well 
how  the  Bessires  loved,  and  how  sure  they 
were  in  their  love.  That  Davie  was  certain 
of  herself  he  had  never  doubted.  He  had 
looked  into  her  eyes  and  read  her  soul. 
Yet  comprehending  it  all  as  he  did,  —  her 
love  for  Langstaff  and  his  love  for  her,  — 
how  was  he  to  make  the  knowledge  count  ? 
f'38] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


Half  the  night  he  had  asked  himself  the 
question. 

At  ten  that  morning  he  sat  in  the  pines 
beside  the  trail  by  which  Gockran  and  Dr. 
Wheatley  would  arrive.  He  was  apparently 
deep  in  his  paper  when  they  finally  came 
in  sight,  but  as  they  approached  he  arose 
and  went  hastily  forward  to  greet  them. 
The  Reverend  Timothy  Wheatley  was  a 
pleasant-faced  gentleman  older  than  him- 
self by  several  years .  He  was  a  man  with 
whom  one  associated  precision  and  a  con- 
science habituated  to  working  over  hours, 
yet  the  ministerial  mien  was  only  moder- 
ately tinctured  with  piety. 

He  had  evidently  found  the  gray  burro  a 
most  uncomfortable  mount,  since  the  incon- 
gruity of  their  different  heights  made  it  neces- 
sary for  him  to  bow  his  knees  lest  his  heels 
should  drag,  and  he  cheerfully  acquiesced 
to  Bessire's  suggestion  that  he  get  down 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


a  bit,  allowing  Cockran  to  catch  the 
cog  and  go  to  Manitou  for  the  wedding 
cake.  After  resting  in  the  shade  he 
could  continue  his  journey  to  his  friend's 
house. 

When  Gockran  had  departed,  leaving  the 
reverend  gentleman  and  the  two  burros  in 
David  Bessire's  care  the  two  elderly  men 
sat  down  together. 

"This  is  most  thoughtful  of  you,  sir," 
said  Dr.  Wheatley,  with  gratitude.  "I 
was  beginning  to  be  tired  and  worn.  Only 
my  friendship  for  young  LangstafF  would 
have  permitted  me  to  mount  one  of  those 
dreadful  little  beasts.  But  of  course 
my  reluctant  old  bones  could  n't  be  al- 
lowed to  postpone  the  ceremony,  so  here 

1» 
am. 

Bessire  nodded  absently.  Then  he 
wheeled  about  with  a  smile  in  which  was 
mirrored  great  depths  of  truth. 

"  The  fact  is  I  wasn't  thinking  of  your 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


comfort,  Dr.  Wheatley,"  he  admitted.  "I 
wanted  a  word  with  you  before  you  reached 
LangstafFs.  Shall  we  smoke  ?" 

Timothy  Wheatley  took  a  cigar  from  a 
case  extended  him,  lighting  it  like  a  man 
who  has  denied  himself  many  things  for 
many  reasons,  but  whose  appreciation  re- 
mains unimpaired.  The  air  was  spicy 
and  cool.  The  tethered  burros  attended 
strictly  to  their  browsing,  the  busy  little 
chipmunks  to  their  own  affairs  with  oc- 
casional bright-eyed  glances  toward  the  two 
old  men  sitting  smoking  on  the  rocks,  and 
the  chatting  of  the  birds  was  scarcely  more 
obtrusive  than  the  rustle  of  the  oak  leaves. 
A  wild  hop-vine,  heavily  laden,  trailed 
from  a  clump  of  bushes  along  the  rocks, 
where  sometimes  the  toe  of  Bessire's  boot 
stirred  its  blossoms. 

"When  I  want  a  thing,  I  buy  it  if  it  is 

to  be  bought, "  he  explained  rather  abruptly. 

"If  it  isn't,  I  maneuver  for  it.      But  I'm 

16 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


not  going  to  maneuver  in  this  case,  Dr. 
Wheatley,  I  'm  going  to  ask  you  straight 
out  for  what  I  want  of  you,  but  I  'm  com- 
ing to  it  circuitiously.  We  are  strangers, 
meeting  for  the  first  and  probably  the  last 
time,  and  we  may  therefore  be  very  plain 
spoken  with  each  other.  We  are  old  men, 
you  and  I,  and  we  have  discovered  for  our- 
selves what  all  men  of  our  age  have  dis- 
covered, that  the  only  thing  worth  while 
is  love, — plain,  honest,  human  love,  with 
all  its  passion  and  its  pets  and  its  demands 
and  commonplaces,  not  a  transcendental 
affair,  not  a  makeshift.  It's  that  sort  of 
love  a  man  must  have  if  he  is  to  be  happy. 
For  as  you  live,  sir,  happiness  isn't  made 
of  well-cooked  breakfasts  and  common 
tastes  and  an  exchange  of  attention  and 
consideration.  It  isn't  born  of  pride  in  a 
woman  who  wears  well  the  clothes  you 
buy  her,  nor  of  her  ministry  to  you  when 
you  are  ill  and  your  care  of  her  when  she 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


fails.  It's  another  sort  of  thing  altogether. 
Is  n't  that  so  ?" 

Dr.  Wheatley  regarded  him  with  keen, 
narrowed  eyes .  A  wreath  of  smoke  drifted 
daintily  from  the  old  minister's  cigar,  and 
presently  he  turned  from  looking  at  his 
companion  and  followed  it  till  it  melted 
above  his  head.  Then  he  nodded,  very 
slowly,  saying  nothing,  and  the  other  man 
went  on  in  simple  earnestness  : 

"We  have  found  out  that  when  we 
come  to  the  end  of  our  day  and  sit  in  the 
twilight  with  our  possessions  about  us, 
like  a  kiddie  with  his  toys,  we  haven't  got 
much  if  we  haven't  got  love,  eh?  " 

"You  are  right,"  said  the  older  man, 
softly,  "  you  are  right." 

"There  is  nothing,  then,  that  a  man 
covets  for  himself  and  for  his  friends  as  he 
covets  love  ?  " 

"If  he  be  wise,  yes." 

"Well,   then,   don't  rob   Gavin   Lang- 

[M3J 


- 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


staff  of  his  chief  possession, —  the  thing 
which  makes  all  the  rest  worth  while,  as 
we  have  just  agreed.  Don't  marry  him 
to  this  girl  to  whom  you  are  bidden  to 
marry  him.  He  doesn't  love  her,  and 
she  loves  him  no  better  than  he  loves  her. 
He  loves  my  granddaughter,  to  tell  you  the 
truth  of  the  matter.  It  may  make  my 
plea  to  you  the  more  fervent,  but  in  any 
case  I  should  feel  it  my  duty  to  tell  you 
the  truth  about  it." 

' '  Let  me  understand  the  situation  ex- 
actly, if  you  please,"  said  Dr.  Wheatley, 
in  a  troubled  voice,  and  David  Bessire 
went  on  quickly  to  explain  it. 

' '  But  if  I  don't  marry  them  someone 
else  will,"  said  the  minister,  when  he  had 
finished. 

"  Leave  something  to  me,"  twinkled 
Da  vie 's  grandfather. 

' '  What  possible  excuse  can  I  make  for 
turning  back  ?" 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


' '  You  have  plainly  a  heightened  pulse 
and  an  increased  heart  action.  Do  you 
need  other  excuse  than  that?" 

Timothy  Wheatley  sat  without  reply- 
ing. He  was  grave  and  irresolute.  At 
last  he  spoke:  "I  am  verv  weary,"  he 
said. 

"Of  course  you  are,"  crowed  Bessire. 
"If  they  could  see  you  they  would  be  sure 
you  ought  to  go  back.  Come  and  refresh 
yourself  beneath  my  friend  Brindley's  roof, 
then  let  him  jog  you  home  in  his  comfort- 
able phaeton.  Burros  weren't  built  for 
men  of  your  age  and  mine." 

Dr.  Wheatley  looked  toward  the  ani- 
mals .  To  mount  one  of  them  again  seemed 
an  actual  physical  impossibility.  He  never 
remembered  to  have  been  more  fatigued 
in  his  life.  He  was  fond  of  Gavin  Lang- 
staff  and  he  had  loved  his  father  before 
him.  He  wanted  the  boy  to  be  happy  for 
his  own  sake  and  for  his  father's.  It  would 
[a45] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


be  a  great  pity  to  marry  him  to  the  wrong 
girl.  It  was  always  a  pity  to  marry  the 
wrong  man  to  the  wrong  woman,  and  he 
had  done  it  so  many  times,  knowingly  and 
unknowingly,  willingly  and  unwillingly, 
that  he  was  constantly  depressed  by  the 
thought.  Why  add  to  his  sense  of  guilt 
when  it  could  be  avoided? 

Furtively  he  regarded  David  Bessire, 
and  read  him  to  be  an  honest  man  whom 
you  could  trust  to  hold  his  tongue;  a  man, 
over-doting,  perhaps,  but  reasonable  withal, 
— a  sort  of  sentimental  sentry  on  the  ram- 
parts of  happiness,  a  sentry  who  had  been 
caught  napping  and  who  now  tried  val- 
iantly to  undo  the  mischief  that  seemed 
irreparable. 

"Man,  say  you'll  do  it!"  exclaimed 
Bessire,  movingly.  "  Give  them  a  chance 
for  youth's  happiness.  Later,  life  will  hold 
nothing  to  compare  with  it.  ...  Come, 
come!  Have  lunch  with  Brindley,  a  nap 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


after,  then  a  good  smoke,  and  off  you  go 
in  the  phaeton,  eh?" 

Timothy  Wheatley  arose;  his  eyes  were 
gentle  and  whimsically  sly. 

"Almost  you  persuade  me,  my  friend," 
he  said. 


CHAPTER  THIRTEEN 


4 '  He  's  awa  to  the  wedding  house 
To  see  what  he  could  see" 


PROMPTLY  at  twelve  o'clock  David  Bes- 
sire  in  immaculate  ducks  went  twinkling 
up  the  trail  to  the  Skyland.  As  he  came 
in  sight  of  the  bungalow  Benjamin  Cock- 
ran  was  just  climbing  the  steps  with  the 
huge  wedding  cake  which  he  had  carried 
most  carefully  from  Manitou,  ascending 
with  guarded  steps  to  the  door,  the  mem- 
ory of  the  demolished  box  of  groceries  still 
with  him. 

' '  There  are  men  whose  stomachs  never 
grow  up,"  muttered  old  Bessire  to  himself. 

Mrs.  Tellant  moved  graciously  forward 
to  meet  him.  She  was  exquisite ;  she  was 
adorable.  In  her  present  mood  he  could 
himself  have  made  obeisance  to  her, 
and  he  had,  besides,  a  certain  feeling  of 
kinship  for  her,  born  of  that  hour  in 
[25i] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


the    pines    with    the    Reverend    Timothy 
Wheatley. 

"She  was  right,  after  all,  she  and 
Dry  den.  '  To  alter  for  the  better  is  no 
shame,'  "  he  chuckled  to  himself.  Aloud 
he  said:  "On  my  word,  madam,  you 
put  out  the  bride.  Is  it  quite  fair?" 

"  You  are  laughing  at  me,"  she  pouted, 
giving  him  her  eyes  with  apparent  frank- 
ness ;  ' '  you  know  perfectly  that  the  bride 
has  put  me  out  most  shamefully." 

They  stood  chatting  together  in  a  sort 
of  camaraderie  which  surprised  them 
both.  Each  was  somewhat  excited  and 
high  of  tension :  her  recklessness  was 
born  of  despair,  his  of  hope.  She  had 
done  what  she  could,  and  had  failed, 
while  he  had  done  what  he  could,  and 
the  result  remained  to  be  seen.  Neither 
of  them  had  any  conscience  in  the 
matter.  To  her  it  was  the  natural 
thing  to  get  what  she  wanted,  while  to 

[  252  ] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


him  a  loveless  marriage  was  a  monstrous 
perversion. 

"The  cake  has  come,  but  not  the 
minister,"  said  she.  "However,  from 
the  fuss  which  has  been  made  over  the 
one,  the  other  seems  entirely  unimportant. 
Have  you  noticed  ?  The  insinuating  flavor 
of  a  salad  is  more  to  Benjamin  Gockran 
than  nature  or  friends  or  books.  If  any- 
thing should  happen  to  his  palate  it  would 
be  tragic.  .  .  .  Do  you  know  it  wouldn't 
surprise  me  a  bit  if  Miss  Marianna  Lang- 
staff  walked  down  on  us  in  the  midst  of 
the  ceremony?  Your  granddaughter  has 
been  having  an  awful  time  of  it  to  keep 
her  in  bed." 

' '  I  believe  I  '11  go  and  speak  with  Davie 
a  minute,"  he  said,  and  went  upstairs  and 
along  the  upper  hall  to  the  girl's  room. 

"Dressing?"  he  asked,  his  lips  against 
the  panel,  so  that  Marianna  Langstaff 
should  not  hear. 

[a53] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"Yes.  I've  just  begun.  I  was  de- 
layed." 

"  How  long  will  it  take  you?" 
"  Fifteen  minutes.      Not  longer." 
"  All  right.      I  '11  wait.      Don't  hurry," 
he  said,  and  as  he  turned  away  he  looked 
at  his  watch  and  saw  that  it  was  twenty- 
five    minutes    past    twelve.       He    glanced 
toward  Miss  Langs taff's  room. 

' '  It  would  be  disastrous  to  have  her 
walk  down  on  them,"  he  muttered.  "I 
wonder  —  "his  nervous  fingers  tapped 
the  upper  newel  post.  "  If  I  thought 
He  continued  to  hesitate.  Then  he 
wheeled  like  a  marionette  on  a  pivot. 

"I'll  do  it!"  he  cried  to  himself. 
"It's  the  last  resort." 

Before  the  fifteen  minutes  were  up 
Davie  came  out  dressed  for  the  wedding. 
She  wore  a  simple  white  gown,  not 
daring  to  risk  a  more  elaborate  toilette  for 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


fear  of  evoking  Miss  LangstafFs  curious 
comments. 

Someone  says  that  when  we  go  above 
a  certain  stratum  in  social  geology  we 
find  people  who  do  not  exhibit  their 
emotions  but  swallow  them.  Davie  had 
swallowed  hers,  and  they  choked  her,  but 
she  carried  herself  as  any  girl  worth  her 
salt  would  carry  herself  under  such 
conditions :  head  high,  chin  steady,  eyes 
gallant.  She  glanced  along  the  hall  and, 
not  seeing  her  grandfather  awaiting  her, 
stepped  out  on  the  porch  to  find  him. 
As  she  passed  through  the  door  a  big 
Walapai  basket  just  outside  caught  on 
her  skirts  and  upset,  and  she  stooped  to 
put  back  the  papers  and  magazines  which 
it  held.  As  she  straightened  from  doing 
it  her  grandfather  came  into  view. 

"Why,  how  odd  I "  she  exclaimed. 
' '  You  looked  exactly  as  if  you  came  from 
Miss  LangstafTs  room.  Queer,  wasn't 
[255] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


it?  I'll  just  look  in  to  see  that  she  is 
sleeping  and  doesn't  need  anything,  then 
we'll  go  right  down." 

She  tiptoed  softly  toward  the  door  and 
looked  in,  —  Marianna  Langstaff  slept  like 
a  child.  Nodding  with  relief  she  came 
back  to  her  grandfather. 

"It's  all  right.  We'll  go  now,  un- 
less—  was  there  something  you  wanted 

to    say   to    me,   that   you    came   hunting 

?»> 

"There's  a  lot  I  want  to  say,  my 
dear,"  said  he,  linking  his  arm  in  hers 
and  moving  with  his  old  buoyant  alacrity 
toward  the  steps,  "but  I'll  only  say 
that  '  all 's  well  that  — '  he  checked 
himself  at  the  look  in  her  eyes,  realizing 
at  once  how  inadvertent  the  remark  had 
been.  But  he  had  ached  so  poignantly 
to  reassure  her,  to  give  some  comfort 
to  her  poor  little  heart.  "  I  'm  a  silly 
old  fellow  who  is  always  putting  his 
[a56] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


foot  in  it,"  he  exclaimed.  "There, 
don't  stare  at  me  like  that.  .  .  .  Ah, 
Gockran,  is  everything  ready?" 

"Will  be,"  said  Gockran,  wiping  a 
perspiring  brow  and  passing  on. 

Genevra  Tellant  looked  at  them  as  they 
came  down  the  stairs  together.  She  had 
a  queer,  half  malicious  pleasure  in  feeling 
that  Langstaff  was  suffering  through  this 
girl.  She  wondered  if  Davie  cared  any- 
thing for  him.  It  was  not  unlikely. 
From  the  first  there  had  been  with  her 
a  fierce  unreasoning  jealousy  of  Davie, 
while  she  felt  only  an  amused  contempt 
for  Bella.  Her  mind  shrugged  its  disgust 
as  the  bride-elect  came  out  onto  the  porch, 
at  the  moment  suggesting  a  vellum-bound 
prayer-book  in  her  severely  plain  ivory- 
colored  gown. 

"It's  odd  that  Dr.  Wheatley  hasn't 
arrived,"  Bella  remarked  to  Davie. 
"Mr.  Gockran  says  he  should  have  been 

17  [  267  ] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


here  a  half  hour  ago.  Things  will  soon 
begin  to  spoil  by  the  delay.  Perhaps  you 
bring  some  word  of  him,  Mr.  Bessire?" 

"Mr.  Gockran  left  him  with  me  and 
we  had  a  most  pleasant  chat  by  the  trail. 
Then  I  took  him  to  the  Brindleys'  to 
freshen  himself  up,  and  dressing  hur- 
riedly I  came  along.  I  thought  perhaps 
my  toilette  had  taken  longer  than  theirs 
and  that  they  had  grown  impatient 
waiting." 

Langstaff  joined  them  at  the  moment. 
"Talking  of  Dr.  Wheatley?"  he  asked. 
"He  is  always  just  on  time,  but  he  in- 
variably gives  you  a  chill  for  fear  he 

>,   i_    » 
won  t  be. 

"Not  a  very  comfortable  person," 
remarked  Bella.  "  Yim  is  getting  im- 
patient." 

"  He'll  have  to  make  the  best  of  it." 

"And  Mr.  Cockran- 

'*  Oh,  bother  Gockran  !  "  he  exclaimed 
[a58] 


"  He  '11  have  to  make  the  best  of  it ' 


Page  258 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


in  spite  of  himself.  Ben's  everlasting 
squeaking  about  the  last  few  days,  his 
bulging  in  and  out  of  the  pantry  and 
kitchen  had  got  on  his  nerves.  Every- 
thing was  on  them,  however,  for  the 
matter  of  that:  Bella's  tranquil  poise, 
her  over-high  collar,  the  way  her  hair 
was  done,  and  her  complacent,  pre-nuptial 
smile.  Then  there  was  Mrs.  Tellant's 
half  mocking  glance,  and  Davie's  eyes 
which  reddened  him  with  their  evasive- 
ness. Did  ever  a  man  stand  in  the 
shadow  of  an  altar  in  quite  such  a  state 
of  mind  ?  he  asked  himself.  He  was 
fussier  and  more  nervous  than  any  old 
woman,  but  except  for  that  one  outburst 
about  Gockran  he  managed  to  keep  him- 
self fairly  in  hand. 

"  Wheatley  not  here  yet?"  cried 
Gockran,  at  the  moment  puffing  in 
from  the  kitchen  hallway.  "What  the 
deuce  keeps  him  ?  Told  him  particu- 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


larly  that  we  wanted  luncheon  by  fifteen 
minutes  after  one  without  fail.  Can't 
understand  his  not  showing  up.  Where 
did  you  leave  him?" 

' '  At  the  door  of  Brindley's  guest 
chamber,"  replied  David  Bessire,  easily. 
"The  trip  had  rather  done  him  up, 
but  he  didn't  complain  greatly,  and  I 
thought  —  " 

"It  may  be  he  is  ill,"  said  Bella. 
"It  looks  as  if  that  might  be  what's 
the  matter,  doesn't  it,  since  the  Brind- 
leys  haven't  come  either?" 

"They  are  two  of  a  kind,  Tom  and 
the  doctor,"  said  LangstafF.  "They'll 
be  along  any  minute  now." 

Bella  had  gone  back  from  the  rail  and 
was  sitting  very  straight  in  a  big  chair, 
her  square  feet  just  escaping  the  floor. 
Glancing  at  her,  Langstaff  felt  some  sense 
of  contrition,  for  after  all  s.he  was  not  to 
blame  because  things  had  come  out  as 
[260] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


they  had.  As  for  that  she  loved  him  no 
better,  yet  how  bravely  she  was  carrying 
out  her  part  of  their  compact.  She 
was  a  good  sort  in  her  way,  and  plenty 
of  men  would  have  found  it  easy  to  love 
her.  Gockran,  for  instance,  seemed  to 
think  her  marvelous.  Only  last  night 
he  had  said  that  if  they  were  not  be- 
trothed he  should  consider  that  heaven 
meant  her  for  him,  since  their  tastes 
were  so  similar,  their  appreciations 
identical. 

Oh,  yes,  she  was  a  dear,  good  girl, 
and  he  must  try  to  make  up  to  her  in 
their  married  life  —  a  shudder  of  the 
brain  stopped  him.  He  saw  her  as  she 
sat  there,  uncompromising,  from  the  coil 
of  her  hair  to  her  heels,  a  satisfied,  ex- 
emplary person,  whom  he  could  not  love 
in  ten  thousand  years,  though  every  day 
of  every  year  be  devoted  to  his  interest 
and  his  comfort! 

[a6i] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


And  then  he  saw  Davie,  standing  back 
a  little  way  from  the  rail,  her  hand  on 
her  grandfather's  arm,  chatting  gaily 
with  Genevra  Tellant,  who  watched  him 
covertly,  with  that  taunting,  diabolical 
smile  in  her  eyes,  and  he  felt  like  a 
caged  animal  in  a  show  window.  It 
was  an  impossibly  cruel  situation.  He 
had  a  wild  desire  for  escape,  and  he 
actually  glanced  up  the  trail  that  ran 
over  the  crest  of  the  hill  back  of  the 
house,  wondering  how  long  it  would 
take  him  to  lose  himself  there  among 
the  rocks  and  trees.  Then  he  pulled 
himself  grimly  together  and  replied  to 
something  someone  was  saying  to  him. 

Gockran  snapped  open  his  watch  at 
the  moment. 

"One-ten,  and  the  fowl  already  done 
to  a  turn,"  said  he,  irritably. 

"Wouldn't  you  like  somebody  to  go 
down  to  Brindley's  and  see  what  is 
[262] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


wrong,  Gavin?"  sweetly  suggested 
Genevra  Tellant. 

"There  is  still  plenty  of  time,  and 
they  are  certain  to  come  or  send  word 
soon." 

"Oh,  to  be  sure,"  said  David  Bessire, 
comfortably. 

Davie  slipped  her  hand  from  his  arm 
and  went  over  to  talk  with  the  bride- 
elect,  as  she  continued  to  sit  in  state, 
exasperation  increasing  in  the  lines  about 
her  firm  mouth.  If  there  was  anything 
in  the  world  she  couldn't  endure  it  was 
sitting  with  meekly  folded  hands  and 
waiting  on  people.  She  said  so  now 
in  a  very  crisp  tone.  A  minister  should 
know  better  than  to  delay  things  like 
this,  and  some  consideration  ought  to  be 
shown  Mr.  Gockran  for  all  his  interest 
and  trouble  in  the  matter  of  the  lunch. 
Gavin  seemed  utterly  unconscious  of  the 
fact  that  he  had  taken  any  pains  whatever. 

[.63] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


' '  Men  are  usually  unconscious  of  most 
things  on  their  wedding  day,  aren't 
they?"  smiled  Davie. 

"Oh,  I  don't  think  Mr.  Langstaff 
could  be  accused  of  being  overcome 
with — "  Bella  checked  herself,  looking 
past  the  other  girl's  head  with  a  pretty 
flame  in  her  eyes.  She  was  very  angry, 
but  she  wasn't  going  to  shake  the  poor 
rags  of  her  romance  in  the  face  of  a 
stranger. 

At  the  instant  Cockran's  big  voice 
rang  out  jubilantly:  "It's  all  right! 
Here  he  comes!" 

David  Bessire  had  been  standing  with 
his  back  to  the  trail,  and  he  wheeled 
about  and  put  on  his  glasses,  fixing  his 
gaze  on  a  solitary  figure  moving  up  the 
path  beneath  a  huge  umbrella.  "Damn 
a  coward!  "  he  cried  to  himself. 

"Go  down  to  meet  Dr.  Wheatley, 
Gavin,"  said  Bella;  and  he  dragged  him- 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


self  together,  thinking  as  he  moved 
forward  that  for  the  rest  of  his  life  he 
would  have  to  obey  that  smooth,  con- 
nubial tone. 

"Thought  we'd  lost  you,  doctor," 
cried  Gockran  from  the  rail,  as  the  old 
man  began  to  mount  the  steps. 

Langstaff  descended  with  leaden  feet, 
while  Mrs.  Tellant  stood  beside  Bella, 
and  Davie  linked  her  arm  in  her  grand- 
father's. As  her  fingers  slipped  into  the 
bend  of  his  arm,  Bessire  put  his  hand 
over  them.  "Poor  little  honeykinl"  he 
was  saying  to  himself,  his  eyes  avoiding 
hers.  "Poor  little  honeykin!" 

"It  was  tremendously  good  of  you  to 
come,  sir,  '  said  Langstaff,  his  lips  moving 
stiffly,  and  he  put  out  his  hand  to  the 
figure  under  the  umbrella  :  the  umbrella 
swung  back,  revealing  Michael,  the 
Brindleys'  man-of-all-work. 

*in'    your    pardon,    sor,    it    isn't 
[266] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


the  riverind  docthor,"  he  said.  "The 
docthor  has  some  sort  of  heart  trouble 
which  prevints  his  coomin'  up  to  ye. 
He  has  gone  home,  sor,  bein'  afraid  to 
remain  in  this  altitood,  sor." 

Michael's  white  head  shone  in  the  sun, 
and  Michael's  eyes  were  politely  regretful. 

"I  wuz  to  say  to  ye,  sor,  that  if  he'd 
knowed  he  was  goin'  to  be  took  he  would 
have  sint  ye  worrud  to  get  somebody 
else,  but  it  come  very  suddint.  If  there 
is  annything  I  can  do  for  ye — " 

"Thank  you,  no,"  said  Langstaff,  me- 
chanically. 

' '  Misther  Brindley  has  drove  him  over 
the  mountain  in  the  phaeton,  sor,  and  the 
Missus  told  me  to  say  that  as  it 's  too  late 
for  ye  to  git  the  preacher  to-day,  she  won't 
coom  up,  as  the  baby  is  fretful.  Good 
day,  sor,"  and  hoisting  the  umbrella 
Michael  departed  as  leisurely  as  he  had 
come. 

[266] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


On  the  porch  there  broke  forth  the 
noisy  hum  of  excited  voices.  How  Mari- 
anna  Langstaff  could  have  failed  to  hear, 
heaven  only  knew.  David  glanced  in 
alarm  toward  the  stairs  expecting  to  see 
her  appear  at  the  head  of  them.  But  no 
such  thing  happened.  Up  there  all  was 
unbroken  quiet  and  serenity.  Down  here 
all  was  confusion  and  consultation. 


CHAPTER    FOURTEEN 


1 '  /  think  it  was  spring  —  but  not  certain  I  am  — 
When  my  passion  began  first  to  work  ; 
But  I  know  we  were  certainly  looking  for  lamb, 
And  the  season  was  over  for  pork." 


CHAPTER   FOURTEEN 

1  WO  hours  later  a  rather  forlorn  proces- 
sion moved  up  from  the  Skyland  dining- 
room.  The  wedding  feast  had  heen  eaten 
and  the  bride's  health  had  heen  drunk. 

' '  Things  won't  keep  —  that 's  all  there  is 
about  it, "  Cochran  had  urged.  "  They  're 
done  to  a  turn  now,  besides  — " 

"  Oh,  Lord,  eat  'em!  "  groaned  Lang- 
staff. 

They  had  therefore  eaten  and  drunk. 
And  now  in  the  crispest  and  most  fetching 
of  aprons  Bella  was  overseeing  the  putting 
away  of  the  remains  of  the  feast,  moving 
about  with  a  deftness  which  delighted 
Cochran,  who  watched  her  with  unspeak- 
able admiration.  Ah,  it  was  the  domestic 
graces  which  were  the  magic  ones,  he  told 
himself,  and  as  he  reclined  in  a  chair  by 
[271  ] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


the  open  dining-room  door  his  soul  soared 
into  poesy,  or  rather  into  parody.  He 
smiled  as  the  lines  formulated,  and  after 
saying  them  over  a  few  times  to  himself  he 
quoted  them  lightly  to  Bella,  who  laughed 
and  hlushed  and  tripped  into  the  pantry 
with  a  plate  of  conserves.  His  parody  of 
the  Rubaiyat  seemed  rather  grand  to  him, 
and  he  said  it  over  again  to  himself,  a 
queer  envious  feeling  of  Langstaff  at  his 
heart. 

"  A.  box  of  cookies  underneath  the  bough, 
A  can  of  soup,  a  glass  of  shrub,  and  Thou 
Still  hungry,  singing  in  the  Wilderness, 
Oh,  Wilderness  were  Paradise  enow  I  " 

She  was  certainly  the  nicest  girl  he  had 
ever  seen  and  the  most  accomplished.  And 
Langstaff  was  the  luckiest  fellow  on  earth, 
but  he  didn't  know  it.  Would  he  ever 
have  the  sense  to  realize  it  ?  Confound 
him!  .  .  .  The  lines  went  through  his 
mind  most  pleasantly,  and  after  a  little  he 
[272  ] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


evolved  another  verse  which  suited   him 
almost  better  than  the  first : 


"  A  gay  alarm-clock  ringing  out  at  six, 
A  Bath,  a  Fire,  a  Breakfast  then  to  fix, 
A  rush  to  get  the  Dishes  washed  and  wiped, 
The  House  to  set  in  order,  Bread  to  mix." 


Gould  there  be  a  more  simple  and  a 
better  plan  of  living  for  a  woman  than 
that  ?  He  tried  to  recall  the  name  of  the 
man  who  had  said  that  domestic  happiness 
was  the  only  bliss  of  paradise  which  had 
survived  the  fall.  He  was  right,  whoever 
he  was,  as  right  as  the  other  writer-fel- 
low who  declared  that  the  domestic  man, 
loving  the  sound  of  his  clock  and  the  logs 
on  his  hearth,  had  solaces  that  other  men 
knew  nothing  of.  Was  not  the  hearth- 
stone poultice,  as  it  were,  for  the  bruised 
spirit  and  the  worn  body? 

Bella  came  in  from  the  pantry,  brushing 
her  hands.  She  was  warm,  and  a  tendril 

18  [273] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


of  her  sleek  hair  touched  her  cheek.  Also 
there  was  a  smudge  of  flour  on  her  nose. 
How  fetching  it  made  her !  If  women 
only  knew  how  much  more  becoming  the 
emblems  of  domesticity  were  than  the 
"gauds  and  armlets"  of  society,  they 
would  turn  to  them,  he  was  sure. 

Bella's  lips  were  compressed,  her  brows 
knit,  and  her  black  eyes  glittering,  and  as 
she  whisked  her  apron  free  from  crumbs, 
she  said  tartly : 

' '  Kam  Yim  is  an  old  imbecile !  The 
way  this  house  is  run  is  a  disgrace.  I 
don't  believe  Gavin  Langstaff  cares  one 
bit  that  things  are  all  at  sixes  and  sevens. 
It's  an  unthinkable  attitude,  even  in  a 
man.  I  can't  understand  it." 

She  gave  another  flirt  to  the  apron  and 
marched  ahead  of  him  down  the  narrow 
passageway. 

The  goddess  of  domesticity  herself  could 
not  have  appeared  more  charming  to  him. 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


And  then,    besides,    she  was   the  soul  of 
honesty ! 

The  combination  was  too  much  for  poor 
Benjamin  Gockran. 

At  five  o'clock  that  afternoon  David 
Bessire  sat  in  a  deep  chair  on  the  Brindley 
porch,  opposite  Mary  Brindley,  who  rocked 
her  baby.  He  had  just  that  moment  ar- 
rived, and  there  had  been  no  talk  between 
them.  He  looked  dapper  and  ruddy  and 
entirely  complacent ;  she,  anxious  and 
greatly  bewildered. 

"  But  what  now?"  she  propounded. 

She  and  Tom  were  in  his  confidence  so 
far  as  the  Reverend  Timothy  Wheatley 
was  concerned.  More  they  guessed,  but 
did  not  know. 

"It's  on  the  knees  of  the  gods,"  said  he, 
lightly  flecking  something  from  his  sleeve. 

"Don't  trust  them,    the  gods.      They 
muddle  things  frightfully." 
[275] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


' '  Not  when  they  have  a  little  discreet 
human  assistance,"  said  he,  slyly. 

"  Who  is  the  aide-de-camp  to  the  gods, 
then  ?  "  she  queried. 

He  dangled  his  watch  before  her  son's 
eyes  and  smiled  over  the  small  downy 
head  at  her. 

"  I  can't  tell  you,  my  dear.  But  have 
faith  in  the  ultimate  outcome." 

' '  You  can't  go  on  holding  up  ministers 
and  sending  them  back  home  mellowed." 

He  chuckled  :  ' '  There  '11  be  but  one 
more  minister,  and  I  won't  have  him 
interfered  with.  I  can  tell  you  that." 

She  shook  an  unconvinced  head: 
4 '  You  're  too  sanguine.  The  odds  are  much 
too  strong  against  you." 


CHAPTER  FIFTEEN 


' '  I  have  a  good  eye,  uncle  ; 
I  can  see  a  church  by  daylight" 


CHAPTER  FIFTEEN 

IS  that  you,  Bella?"  called  Miss  Lang- 
staff. 

It  was  evening  of  the  day  which  should 
have  been  the  wedding  day.  The  house 
was  very  quiet,  and  for  some  time  Miss 
Marianna  had  been  alone. 

At  the  call  Genevra  Tellant,  passing 
through  the  upper  hall,  paused  just  out- 
side the  sick-room  door,  irresolute.  The 
moonlight  was  rather  bright  in  there,  haz- 
ardously bright,  she  feared,  but  Miss  Lang- 
staff  called  a  second  time,  and  with  an  air 
of  daring  Mrs.  Tellant  entered.  Simulat- 
ing Davie's  voice  as  best  she  could  she 
suggested  that  it  would  be  easier  for  the 
invalid  to  sleep  if  the  blinds  were  more 
closely  drawn. 

"  But  I  don't  want  to  sleep,"  said  Mari- 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


anna  Langstaff,  fretfully.      "  I  can't  sleep 
forever,  can  I?      I  want  to  talk." 

Mrs.  Tellant  drew  her  chair  up  to  the 
bedside. 

' '  I  have  been  thinking  so  persistently 
to-night  of  a  man  I  know,"  said  Miss 
Langstaff,  lying  with  half-closed  eyes. 
' '  Somehow  I  can't  get  him  out  of  my 
mind.  Perhaps  talking  of  him  may 
help  me.  Shall  I  tell  you  about  him, 
dear?" 

"Do,"  murmured  Mrs.  Tellant,  stifling 
a  yawn  and  looking  about  the  room  with 
some  curiosity. 

It  was  a  long,  impressive  moment  before 
the  old  woman  spoke,  then  she  said  un- 
steadily:  "I'm  afraid  it  may  bore  you. 
There  is  n't  anything  extraordinary  in  the 
story,  but  he  is  so  keen  and  so  unspoiled 
and  so  likable, — or  so  it  seems  to  me, — 
and  so  to  be  pitied  that  in  spite  of  me  I 
weep  for  him." 

[280] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"He  is  in  trouble,  then?"  prompted 
Genevra  Tellant,  languidly. 

' '  He  is  face  to  face  with  adversity  at  a 
sharp  turn  in  the  road — a  turn  which  he 
thought  he  had  already  safely  passed." 

"Ah!  but  he  isn't  a  coward,  is  he?" 

"He!  My — I  mean  the  boy?  Oh, 
no,  he  is  n't  that.  He  comes  of  stock  that 
fights  till  it  falls.  But  one  is  sorry  there 
should  be  need  of  battle.  So  much  time 
is  lost  that  way,  so  much  blood,  so  much 
spirit.  It  seems  a  great,  great  pity,  does  n't 
it?" 

"  What  is  the  thing  he  has  to  fight?" 
asked  the  other  woman,  indifferently. 

"  Ruin,"  answered  Marianna  Langstaff, 
briefly,  and  in  a  voice  that  made  Mrs. 
Tellant  regard  her  with  sudden  inquiry  as 
she  lay,  her  face  in  the  shadows. 

' '  You  mean  financial  ruin  ?  " 

"Yes,  Bella." 

There    was   a  short  silence,    then : 

[**] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


" Humph  1  that  isn't  easy  to  meet.  But 
surely  there  is  some  one  who  can  lend 
him  a  hand?  " 

*  *  That 's  the  worst  of  it ;  the  one  whose 
joy  it  would  have  been  to  help  him  is 
worse  off  than  he.  She  is  wrecked,  pov- 
erty-stricken, utterly  ruined!  " 

The  words  flung  themselves  out  stiffly, 
reverberating  in  the  room,  and  for  a 
moment  Genevra  Tellant  did  not  speak. 
She  sat  leaning  forward,  her  gaze  intent 
upon  the  old  face  among  the  pillows,  the 
toe  of  her  slipper  tapping  nervously. 

"  The  blow  has  just  fallen,"  said  Miss 
Langstaff.  ' '  The  girl  has  n't  heard  of  it 
yet.  She  is  very  sweet  and  dear  and  rea- 
sonable, but  has  he  the  right  to  hold 
her  to  him?  She  was  pledged  to  him 
in  his  prosperity,  not  in  his  poverty.  He 
was  unencumbered  then,  and  now  —  now 
he  has  this  old  woman  on  his  hands. 
This  one  who  would  so  gladly  have  helped 

[••to] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


him  had  she  not  gone  down  in  the  finan- 
cial crash  which  leveled  him.  Do  you 
see?  Is  it  fair  to  the  girl  to  ask  him  to 
marry  her  now,  or  to  wait  for  him  until 
he  can  get  upon  his  feet  again?" 

'The  girl  must  answer   that  for  her- 
self," said  Mrs.  Tellant,  coldly. 

' '  But  you  are  young,  dear  Bella.  You 
know  how  youth  would  feel.  Can  you 
not  put  yourself  in  her  place  and  tell  me 
what  you  would  do  ?  I  He  here  trying  to 
think  it  all  out :  what  is  right  and  just  to 
them  both?" 

"I  don't  know  the  girl.  How  can  I 
tell  what  she  would  do?  "  The  clamoring 
forces  of  necessity  had  stirred  her  so  long 
that  she  was  irritable.  What  was  clearly 
a  recital  of  LangstafFs  financial  difficulties 
awoke  in  her  anger  against  him  and  against 
fate  and  herself.  All  the  wretched  turmoil 
of  the  last  few  days  might  have  been  spared 
if  she  had  known  this,  for  Langstaff  poor 
[a83] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


and  Langstaff  rich  were  necessarily  very 
different  persons  to  her.  She  realized 
perfectly  that  his  aunt  was  putting  Bella 
Kaye  to  the  test,  but  she  had  no  mind 
whatever  of  playing  up  to  the  Bella  role. 
She  was  exasperated  to  the  limit  of  her 
endurance  by  her  stay  here.  The  candle 
had  not  been  worth  the  game.  There  had 
been  no  candle  I 

' '  Happiness  is  often  a  luxury  which  we 
cannot  afford,"  she  said  dryly.  "  It  has  to 
be  too  dearly  bought,  it  seems  to  me, 
when  it  is  the  one  luxury.  The  ques- 
tion is,  will  the  girl  think  she  can 
afford  it?  " 

"  Would  you  think  you  could  afford 
it?"  asked  the  other  woman,  quietly. 

Mrs.  Tellant  laughed  a  most  un-Bella- 
like  laugh. 

"  No.  No,  I  wouldn't  consider  it  for 
a  moment.  One  must  have  meat  and 
drink,  you  know,  as  well  as  love." 


THE    RULE    OF-THREE 


' '  And  meat  and  drink  mean  different 
things  to  different  women  ?  Is  that  it  ?  " 

"Exactly.  I  hope  you  are  not  mis- 
judging me.  I  know  the  smell  of  the  flesh 
pots,  but  my  nostrils  can  do  without  it. 
But  I  must  have  creature  comforts.  Take 
them  away  from  a  woman  who  is  accus- 
tomed to  them  and  she~  becomes  impover- 
ished and  unbearable.  Oh,  I  know  that 
there  are  saints  who  keep  their  halos 
bright  under  the  most  difficult  circum- 
stances, and  angels  who  sprout  wings 
beneath  vicissitude,  but  I'm  talking  about 
the  ordinary  woman." 

"  Perhaps  the  girl  is  not  the  ordinary 
girl." 

' '  Maybe  not.  I  don't  pretend  to  know, 
of  course.  She  may  sprout  wings  too. 
Who  knows?"  The  tone  was  coldly 
amused.  Bella  in  print  gowns  and  patient 
smiles !  Poor  Gavin !  .  .  .  She  arose 
with  alacrity  and  decision. 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


She  had  seen  as  much  of  the  pitiful 
farce  as  she  wanted  to  see.  It  was  quite 
time  to  ring  down  the  curtain  and  let  the 
audience  go  home. 

"Don't  worry  about  the  man,"  she 
said.  "He  will  find  a  way  out  of  his 
difficulties.  Men  always  do.  .  .  .  Can  I 
bring  you  anything  before  I  go  ?  A  drink  ? 
A—" 

"No,  nothing,"  replied  the  low  voice 
from  the  bed,  and  patting  the  pillows 
mechanically,  Mrs.  Tellant  swept  from  the 
room,  whereupon  Marianna  Langstaff  sat 
straight  up  in  bed,  her  eyes  astonishingly 
wide  and  clear,  the  line  of  her  lips  as 
straight  as  a  thread.  Then  the  taut  line 
eased  and  she  laughed,  with  the  chuckling 
gasps  of  age  and  weakness. 

"Is  it  my  fault  that  she  put  the  per- 
sonal application  to  it?"  she  demanded  of 
the  quiet  room. 

Just  then  there  were  other  skirts  in  the 
[286] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


hall  and  other  steps  that  moved  toward 
her  door,  and  ducking  like  a  naughty  child 
into  the  pillows  she  called  again  in  a  low, 
guileless  voice: 

"Is  that  you,  Bella?" 

Bella  herself  appeared  hesitatingly  at 
the  door. 

"I  don't  want  to  go  to  sleep.  I'm 
lonely,  I  think,  and  I  want  to  talk,"  said 
Marianna  Langstaff,  and  Bella  came  into 
the  room  with  much  trepidation,  and  took 
the  chair  which  Mrs.  Tellant  had  just  left. 

Miss  Langstaff  allowed  a  little  silence  to 
prelude  what  she  had  to  say. 

"I  've  been  thinking  so  persistently 
to-night  of  a  man  I  know,"  she  began. 
"Somehow  I  can't  get  him  out  of  my 
mind.  Perhaps  talking  of  him  may  help 
me.  Shall  I  tell  you  about  him,  dear  ?" 

"  Why   to   be   sure,  if  you  like,"  said 
Bella,  polishing  her  nails  on  the  cushion  of 
her  knees  and  regarding  them  with  interest, 
[387] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


' '  I  am  afraid  it  may  bore  you  since 
there  is  nothing  extraordinary  about  the 
man,  but  he  is  so  keen  and  eager  and  lik- 
able —  or  so  it  seems  to  me  —  and  so  to 
be  pitied  that  in  spite  of  me  I  weep  for 
him." 

' '  What 's  the  matter  with  him  ?  "  asked 
Bella. 

"He  is  ruined  !  "  cried  the  old  voice, 
the  words  ringing  with  peculiar  bitterness. 

"How  ruined?"  questioned  Bella's 
matter-of-fact  tones.  "  What  has  he 
done?" 

' '  What  many  other  good  men  have 
done  before  him,"  murmured  Marianna 
Langstaff,  »pregnantly. 

' '  I  haven't  a  bit  of  patience  with  a  man 
who  can't  keep  straight,"  declared  Bella 
Kaye,  after  a  moment  in  which  it  all 
became  clear  to  her.  "  If  you  expect  me 
to  condone  —  " 

"My  dear,  I  myself  do  not  condone. 
[288] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


I  only  pity  him.  And  also  — "  the  old 
eyes  fixed  themselves  wishfully  on  the 
young  face —  "  I  pity  the  girl  he  loves." 

"If  he  really  loves  her  he  would  n't 
have  done  this  thing — whatever  it  is," 
said  the  girl,  coldly. 

Miss  LangstafFs  tone  had  much  crispness 
in  it  when  she  retorted  : 

4 '  Love  may  be  a  universal  solvent,  my 
dear  Bella,  but  it  isn't  a  universal  savior." 

"  Then  what 's  the  good  of  it?"  chal- 
lenged the  other. 

' '  The  good  I  "  crackled  the  old  woman, 
' '  the  good  ?  I  never  thought  the  mission 
of  love  to  be  one  wholly  of  redemption. 
On  my  word,  I  did  n't.  I  've  missed  it 
tremendously  from  my  own  life,  —  I  don't 
mind  admitting  that  to  you,  —  but  I  never 
wanted  it  to  save  me  from  my  sins." 

' '  Just  the  same  he  would  n't  have  done 
it  if  he  had  loved  her,"  doggedly  reiterated 
Bella. 

19  [  289  J 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


' '  Perhaps  I  should  say  rather  that  he 
loved  the  thought  of  her,"  mused  Mari- 
anna  Langstaff;  "  loved  all  that  she  stood 
for  with  him,  for  you  see  that  although 
their  engagement  has  been  a  long  one 
they  really  know  each  other  but  slightly. 
However,  he  does  adore  the  idea  of  her." 

"I'm  afraid  he  has  n't  shown  it,  has 
he  ?  .  .  .1  don't  ask  you  what  he  has 
done.  I  don't  want  to  know.  But  what 
would  he  do  if  she  had  failed  him*  in  any 
way  ?  If  she  had  n't  been  absolutely 
scrupulous  in  her  loyalty  to  him  ?  He  'd 
throw  her  over  quicker  than  a  wink. 
And  do  you  suppose  she  loves  him  a 
bit  more  than  he  loves  her  ?  " 

The  old  head  moved  sadly  on  the 
pillows,  and  the  old  voice  did  not  reply. 

"  It's  absurd,  this  thing  of  having  one 

standard  of  conduct  for  the  woman  and 

another    for    the    man,"    snapped    Bella 

Kaye.      "To  have  one  set  of  rules  for  a 

[29°] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


certain  temperament  and  another  set  for 
another  kind  of  temperament.  We  can't 
grade  sinners  as  we  do  children  in  school. 
I  may  be  primitive  minded  —  I  hope  to 
goodness  I  am !  —  but  it  seems  to  me 
we're  all  in  the  same  class.  ...  I  abhor 
excuses  and  slips  and  lapses,  and  I  abom- 
inate wrongdoing." 

"My  dear  child,  he  hasn't  committed 
either  murder  or  felony,"  suggested  Miss 
Langstaff,  with  a  bitter  smile. 

"Oh,  I  understand  perfectly!  I  beg 
you  not  to  go  into  it.  I  know  just  about 
what  he  has  done — some  gentlemanly, 
dastardly  thing,  and  you  feel,  and  you 
want  me  to  feel,  that  his  other  excellen- 
cies offset  it."  She  was  working  her- 
self into  a  fever  heat.  "But  I've  no 
patience  with  that  sort  of  thing!  I — " 

"Nor  with  him?"  put  in  Marianna 
Langstaff. 

She  hesitated  an  instant,  then  she  said : 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"I  have  rigid  ideas  of  right  and  wrong. 
I  was  brought  up  that  way,  and  I  thank 
heaven  for  it.  I  believe  in  stern  dealing." 

"But  love — " 

"We  have  decided  that  there  is  only 
a  pretense  of  it — no,  not  even  that  be- 
tween them.  There  is  nothing  but 
friendship .  So  — 

"Ah,  but  even  friendship  —  " 

' '  Even  friendship  may  '  smell  the  buz- 
zard underneath  the  peacock  plumes," 
interrupted  the  girl,  sharply.  "I  don't 
mean  to  set  myself  up  as  a  judge,  nor 
to  be  unjust  with  him,  but  I  'm  a  simple- 
minded  creature  and  I  want  simple  hon- 
esty and  candor  and — decency." 

"I  think  I  begin  to  see  just  how  you 
feel  about  it,"  said  the  old  woman,  with 
a  long  look  at  the  stern  young  face. 
' '  You  think  the  girl  would  wish  to  be 
released  from  her  promise  to  marry  him  ? 
You  think  she  wouldn't  be  willing — or 
[292  ] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


rather  that  she  wouldn't  want  —  to  make 
shield  and  shelter  of  her  affection?  That 
her  woman's  heart  might  not  become  a 
very  mother-heart  of  tenderness  for  him 
in  his  weakness  and  contrition?  I'm 
afraid  I  had  some  such  old-fashioned 
notion." 

'  I  don't  believe  in  marrying  men  to 
reform  them,"  said  Bella,  with  asperity. 
'I  can't  imagine  anything  more  dread- 
ful than  having  to  keep  after  your  hus- 
band as  if  he  were  a  boy.  How  women 
make  perpetual  governesses  of  themselves 
I  can't  think." 

'Then  you  are  sure, — forgive  me  for 
seeming  to  press   the  point,   but  I  must 
make    perfectly    certain, --you    feel    that 
she  wouldn't  wish  to  marry  him?     You 
see  I  lie  here  trying  to  think  it  all  out : 
what  he  will  do,  what  she  will  do,   and 
what  is  right  and  just  to  them  both." 
An     expression     of     some     kindliness 
(*&] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


touched  the  austere  countenance  of  the 
girl.  She  had  been  fond  of  Miss  Lang- 
staff,  in  her  way. 

"No,  I  am  sure  she  wouldn't  want 
to  marry  him,  under  the  circumstances. 
But  don't  you  worry  about  it.  He 
won't!  He  will  find  a  girl  who  is 
willing  to  treat  him  as  if  he  were  in 
moral  pinafores . ' ' 

' '  Yes,  he  may  find  someone  some 
day,  poor  boy,"  softly  murmured  the 
wicked  little  old  lady,  and  added,  still 
softly:  "And  poor  girl!  Poor  girl!" 

"Oh,  I  don't  think  you  need  feel 
badly  for  her.  She 's  had  a  lucky 
escape,  that's  all.  She  was  mad  to  think 
of  such  a  marriage,  anyhow."  The  color 
was  high  in  Bella's  face  and  she  stood 
up,  glancing  down  at  Marianna  Langstaff, 
who  discreetly  closed  her  eyes. 

"Can  I  do  anything  for  you  before 
I  go?"  she  asked.  "A  drink — " 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"Nothing,  thank  you,  dear  Bella." 
"Well,   then,    I   think   I   must  be  off. 
I  want  —  to — er — speak  to  Mr.  Gockran 
to-night." 

And  Bella  was  gone. 

"The  personal  application  again!" 
tragically  breathed  Marianna  Langstaff  in 
a  chuckling,  plaintive  tone,  and  with  her 
old  eyes  laughing  and  her  old  hand 
trembling  she  rang  the  bell  on  her  table 
and  ducked  again  to  the  pillows. 

"Is  that  Bella?"  she  asked  for  the 
third  time,  when  Davie  appeared  at  the 
door. 

"Yes,  dear.  I'm  sorry  you  had  to 
call.  Can't  you  go  to  sleep?" 

"I  don't  want  to  sleep.  I  want  to 
talk.  I'm  lonely,  I  think." 

'  Lonely !  And  you  didn't  call  me  long 
ago  I  I  was  only  talking  with  Gran — I 
mean  Gavin." 

"How  you  two  do  adore  each  other," 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


murmured  the  old  lady,  fondly,  and  even 
in  the  moonlight  she  could  see  the  riot- 
ing pink  of  the  girl's  cheeks  and  the  look 
of  distress  in  her  eyes.  Then  Davie  hid 
her  face  against  her  shoulder  as  she  sat 
propped  up  among  the  pillows. 

"Well,  what  are  we  going  to  talk 
about?"  queried  Davie,  lightly. 

"About  a  man  I  can't  get  out  of  my 
mind  to-night.  Shall  I  tell  you  about 
him,  dear?" 

"Oh,  do!  You  know  how  I  adore 
talking  about  nice,  interesting  people. 
What  has  he  been  doing?" 

"Several  things  he  ought  not,"  said 
Miss  Langs taff,  sternly. 

"Go  on,"  laughed  Davie.  "I'm  sure 
I'm  going  to  like  him." 

"He  has  been  a  good  bit  of — er  a 
fool,  to  put  it  very  plainly." 

"Thackeray  says  you  have  to  be  one 
in  order  to  become  a  wise  man." 

[296] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


'It's     a     dangerous    doctrine,"     said 
Marianna  Langstaff,   severely. 

"Don't    be    too    hard    on    him.      You 
know    you    haven't    any   patience    with 
•perfection.      What  did  he  do?     I'm  all 
curiosity." 

There  was  an  impressive  silence,  then 
the  condemning  old  voice:  "He  forgot 
his  constancy  to  the  girl  he  was  going 
to  marry!" 

Davie  went  rather  white. 
'He  told  you!"  she  cried,  in  a  weak 
little  voice. 

"No,  no,  but  I  know.  ...  To  be 
sure  there  was  the  excuse  of  the  other 
woman's  great  beauty  and — " 

"Oh,"  breathed  Davie,  "oh!"  and 
many  emotions  were  in  the  tone. 

'  Will  the  girl  ever  forgive  him  ? " 
questioned  Marianna  Langstaff. 

"She  ought,"  said  Davie,  after  a  long 
minute.      "Oh,    yes,    yes,   of  course  she 
[297] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


will.  She  must.  It  is  nt  his  fault  alto- 
gether. It  never  is  a  man's  fault  alto- 
gether, I  think.  And  the  thing  that 
astonishes  me  is  n't  the  number  of  in- 
constant men  in  the  world,  but  the 
number  of  constant  ones." 

"My   dear    child!"    reproved   the   old 
woman,    chuckling  inwardly. 

"It's  so.  Do  you  suppose  for  a 
second  that  you  or  I  would  be  faithful 
to  a  mental  slouch  any  more  than  we'd 
be  faithful  to  a  domestic  one  ?  It 's  just  as 
bad  to  have  fluff  in  the  corners  of  your 
brain  as  it  is  to  have  it  in  the  corners  of 
your  room.  Some  men  have  to  shut 
their  eyes  to  one  kind,  and  some  to 
another,  and  some — oh,  mercy! — have 
to  shut  them  to  both !  And  if  they  dare 
to  open  'em  even  a  wee  slit  on  the  beauty 
and  orderliness  and  charm  beyond  their 
partition  wall,  why  they're  'unfaithful' 
and  odious  and  horrid.  I  tell  you  the 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


world  isn't  running  over  with  bad  men, 
it 's  running  over  with  indifferent  women 
who  take  too  much  for  granted." 

Miss  Langstaff  did  not  speak  for  a  mo- 
ment, and  the  girl  looked  down  at  her 
with  a  little  anxious  smile:  "  Do  I  shock 
you,  dearest?  When  you  go  batting 
about  the  world  as  I  've  done  you  run 
into  a  lot  of  things  that  make  you  perfectly 
furious.  But  let's  get  back  to  the  man 
and  the  girl.  Then  you  think  she  ought 
to  forgive  him  ?" 

There  was  pause,  and  taking  a  deep 
breath  Davie  said  simply:  "I'll  tell  you 
what  I  'd  do  if  it  had  happened  to  me.  I'd 
take  an  inventory  of  myself  and  see  what 
was  lacking,  then  I  'd  stock  up  wher- 
ever it  was  needed.  I  'd  be  perfectly  sure 
I  had  everything  he  might  want.  Then  if 

he  went   somewhere  else   I'd  —  I'd " 

her   lips   twisted   into  a  wry  smile  —  "I 

would    hate    him,    hate   him,    hate    him! 

[299] 


THE  RULE  OF  THREE 


Oh,  there  's  such  a  lot  of  the  savage  in 

I» 

' '  But  you  would  marry  him  if  you 
were  the  girl  ?  You  'd  give  him  his 
chance  ?  " 

' '  Would  'nt  I  try  desperately  for  my 
happiness,  don't  you  think?"  she  demanded 
in  a  queer,  shaky  little  voice.  "Of  course 
I  'd  marry  him  !  " 

The  room  was  silent  for  a  moment, 
then  Marianna  Langstaff  said  painedly, 
' '  But  something  else  has  happened  to  him , 
something  that  with  most  women  would 
seem  as  serious  an  obstacle  to  the  marriage: 
he  has  lost  all  he  has  I  He  is  desperately 
poor." 

"  M-m-m,"  murmured  Da  vie.  "  That's 
bad,  isn't  it?  But  after  all  she  was  be- 
trothed to  him,  not  to  his  check  book." 

"  I  'm  afraid  you  don't  take  it  in,"  said 
the  old  woman.  ' '  He  has  absolutely  noth- 
ing. Think  what  that  means,  my  dear 
[3oo] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


Bella.  It  does  n't  mean  a  pretty  sylvan 
retreat  with  bees  and  a  rose  bower.  It 
means  getting  right  down  to  work  in  the 
thick  of  things.  It  means  bed-rock  and 
beginning  all  over  again." 

"Well,  what  of  it?"  impatiently  de- 
manded the  girl.  "Her  love  surely 
knows  another  law  than  that  of  inertia." 

"  Suppose — suppose  she  doesn't  really 
love  him  ?  What  then  ?" 

"  Don't  ask  me!  I  can't  put  myself  in 
the  place  of  a  girl  who  would  be  about  to 
marry  a  man  she  didn't  really  love.  But 
don't  worry,  dear  Miss  Langstaff.  It  looks 
so  black  for  them,  but  it  will  come  out 
all  right.  He'll  make  it.  And  she — 
perhaps  she'll —  " 

Marianna  Langstaff  sat  suddenly  straight 
and  caught  the  girl  to  her  with  a  clasp 
fierce  and  possessive. 

'Davie,   you  darling!"   she  cried.    "I 
knew  you'd  stand  the  test.     I  knew  it! 
[3oi] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


I  'm  a  stupid  old  woman  and  pretty  blind, 
but  I'm  neither  so  stupid  nor  so  blind, 
thank  God,  that  I  can't  find  out  what  I 
want  to  find  out.  .  .  .  Don't  say  a  word, 
child,  just  yet.  I'll  tell  you  everything 
when  I  've  talked  with  your  grandfather. 
Go  bring  him  to  me  this  instant.  Go, 
dear !" 


[3o>] 


CHAPTER   SIXTEEN 


" Love  is  the  origin;  the  end." 


CHAPTER   SIXTEEN 

'  WELL?"  anxiously  interrogated  David 
Bessire,  as  he  whisked  through  the  window 
from  the  porch. 

"It's  all  right,"  she  crowed,  leaning 
toward  him  out  of  the  pillows,  "it's  all 
right!  " 

' '  Bully  1      You  are  wonderful ,  madam . ' ' 

"Nonsense!  Their  love  would  have 
turned  to  Dead  Sea  apples  if  it  had  n't 
been  for  you.  I  have  n't  been  half  as 
blind  as  I've  pretended  to  be,  but  how 
could  I  have  sensed  the  gravity  of  the 
affair  if  you  hadn't  explained  it  to  me?  " 

4 '  If  only  I  had  dared  to  do  it  sooner ! 
You  were  the  last  resort — but  remember, 
I  hadn't  seen  you,"  he  said,  with  a  fine 
bow. 

4 '  At  any  rate  between  us  we  've  saved 

ao  3o5 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


their  happiness,  and  it's  worth  saving,  at 
any  cost.  I  know,  because  I  missed  it — 
happiness,"  she  murmured,  a  mist  touch- 
ing her  eyes,  to  be  burned  up  the  next  in- 
stant by  the  flame  of  humor. 

' '  And  I  know  it  because  I  found  it,"  he 
gravely  returned. 

She  smiled  at  him,  nodding. 

' '  We  seem  to  be  a  pair  of  silly  old  sen- 
timentalists, but  I  offer  no  apology.  Now 
do  tell  me  what 's  doing  in  this  house. 
Where  is  that  Tellant  woman?" 

"Packing  her  bags.  The  curtains  of 
her  room  are  up,  and  I  can  see  plainly." 

' '  I  knew  it.  She  '11  be  off  the  first 
thing  in  the  morning.  It  was  the  money 
she  wanted,  not  Gavin.  And  Bella?  Is 
she  talking  with  Benjamin  Cockran?" 

"She  is.  They  have  just  gone  off 
down  the  trail  in  the  moonlight." 

"  With  their  heads  close  together  ?" 

"Very  close,"  he  assured  her,  smiling. 
3o6 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


"They'll  keep  'em  so  to  the  end  of 
time,"  she  chuckled.  "  He  was  right  to 
feel  heaven  meant  them  for  each  other. 
Won't  they  fairly  radiate  in  their  separate 
and  united  halos?  And  what's  Gavin 
doing?  But  don't  stop  to  tell  me.  Send 
him  to  me,  won't  you,  while  you  explain 
to  Davie.  Don't  let  her  despise  me  for 
my  methods.  They  did  smack  of  the 
sweat  box,  I  admit,  but  it  was  n't  a  time 
to  hesitate  over  systems,  you  know.  Ah, 
there's  Gavin  now  I  .  .  .  Gome  in,  Gavin," 
she  called  through  the  open  window,  and 
as  he  entered  David  Bessire  slipped  away 
to  find  Davie. 

"I  know  everything,  dear,"  Miss 
Langstaff  said  tremulously,  holding  up 
penitent  hands  to  him.  "That  splendid 
Mr.  Bessire  slipped  in  and  told  me  yester- 
day. You  see  he  just  had  to  do  it,  as  he 
couldn't  save  the  day  alone.  And  oh,  if 
he  had  n't  I  If  you  had  married  the 
[3°7] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


awful  little  prig,  Bella  !  How  can  girls 
turn  out  so  disappointingly?" 

She  drew  him  down  beside  her,  resting 
her  head  against  his  shoulder  and  patting 
his  hands,  and  thus,  rather  wildly  between 
her  relief  and  her  merriment  over  what 
had  just  happened,  she  told  him  all. 

"Now  go  and  find  Davie,"  she  com- 
manded when  she  had  finished,  and  gave 
him  a  little  push,  following  him  with  her 
adoring  old  eyes. 

They  were  in  the  corner  of  the  deserted 
lower  porch,  Davie  and  her  grandfather, 
and  when  they  saw  Langstaff  coming  to 
find  them  David  Bessire  would  have 
slipped  away,  but  she  clung  to  him  in  en- 
chanting confusion  so  that  he  had  to  free 
her  fingers  from  his  arm.  Then  he 
wheeled  and  went  trotting  briskly  up  the 
stairs,  his  eyes  twinkling,  but  also  they 
were  a  little  dim. 

[3o8] 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


Davie  stood  very  straight  against  the 
porch  column,  the  moonlight  over  her 
throat  and  face.  She  held  her  head  high 
and  her  eyes  were  steady,  but  her  cheeks 
were  flooded  with  color  and  a  corner  of 
her  sensitive  little  mouth  twitched  nerv- 
ously. And  indeed,  as  he  came  to  her, 
all  his  heart  in  his  eyes,  the  moment  was 
honest  enough  to  have  suited  the  rare 
souls  of  Bella  and  Benjamin. 

"  You  know  everything  ?  "  he  cried. 

' '  I  can't  think  there  is  anything  more  to 
tell,"  said  she,  with  that  scampering  laugh 
of  hers,  in  which  a  note  of  panic  rang. 

"  There  is  something  to  hear,  Davie," 
said  he,  his  voice  falling  to  a  caressing, 
appealing  cadence.  ' '  Do  you  —  you  don't 
love  me.  Do  you,  dear  ?  It  seems  too 
much  to  hope.  You  said  you  couldn't 
marry  tamely,  you  know,  and — " 

"And  I  couldn't,"  said  she,  with 
emphasis. 


THE    RULE    OF    THREE 


He  nodded  rather  blindly,  and  turning 
stood  beside  her  at  the  rail,  his  hands 
thrust  into  his  pockets,  staring  dismally  up 
at  the  moon-washed  peaks.  "I  might 
have  known,"  said  he,  miserably.  "I 
can't  blame  you,  but — " 

*'  But,"  she  took  him  up,  and  as  he  was 
not  looking  he  did  not  see  the  little  one- 
sided grin  she  gave,  "I  really  don't  think 
anybody  could  call  a  —  a  certain  marriage 
exactly  tame,  do  you  ? "  She  queried 
softly,  in  a  thrilling,  adorable  little  rush. 

"  Davie !  "  he  all  but  shouted,  his 
harried  face  breaking  into  light,  and  for 
just  an  infinitesimal  fraction  of  a  second 
they  looked  into  each  other's  eyes.  Then 
he  caught  her  in  his  arms,  or  perhaps 
Davie  threw  herself  there,  for  had  n't  she 
said  when  she  met  "  response  "  she  would 
marry  it  straight  off? 

THE    END 


